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ELEMENTARY 

ECONOMIC  GEOGRAPHY 


BY 
CHARLES   REDWAY   DRYER.  F.G.S.A..  F.R^G.S. 

FORMERLY    PROFESSOR    OF   CEOCJRAI'HY   AND   GEOLOGY,    INDIANA    STATE    NORMAL 

SCHOOL.      AUTHOR   OK    "LESSONS    IN    PHYSICAL   GEOGRAPHY" 

"HIGH    SCHOOL   GEOGRAPHY" 


AMERICAN   BOOK   COMPANY 

NEW   YORK  CINCINNATI  CHICAGO 


N    2      '17 


Copyright,  1916,  by 

CHARLES   REDWAY   DRYER 

All  rights  reserzied 

ELEM.    ECON.   GKOG. 
E.  P.    I 


n 


PREFACE 

There  is  a  growing  demand  from  the  schools  for  textbooks 
deahng  with  commerce  and  industry.  The  difficulties  which  lie 
in  the  way  of  presenting  these  subjects  to 'immature  pupils  are 
many: 

1.  The  facts  to  be  presented  are  found  largely  in  the  form  of 
tables  of  statistics  which  change  from  year  to  year.  The  mean- 
ing and  trend  of  these  changing  figures  must  be  seized  and 
stated  in  the  form  of  safe  generalizations. 

2.  The  facts  and  principles  involved  must  be  organized 
according  to  their  physical  relations,  which  are  geographic,  and 
their  human  relations,  which  are  economic. 

3.  Clear  and  impressive  pictures  must  be  drawn  of  natural 
conditions  and  human  occupations,  as  they  exist  in  well-defined 
regions  and  among  peoples  of  various  degrees  of  culture. 

4.  The  whole  must  be  made  sufificiently  interesting  to  attract 
a  large  proportion  of  schoolboys  and  schoolgirls. 

In  this  book  the  facts  and  principles  of  industry  and  com- 
merce are  organized  upon  a  geographic  basis.  The  limits  im- 
plied in  the  term  couuiicrcial  geography  are  expanded  into  the 
broader  and  more  significant  conception  of  economic  geography, 
or  a  study  of  the  ways  in  w/iic/i  different  peoples  in  different  {/^ 
regions  get  a  living. 

Part  I,  Hitman  Economies  and  their  Natiwal  Foicndations^ 
forms  a  general  introduction  to  a  science  which  takes  a  point  of 
view  not  yet  famiUar  to  the  student.  The  meaning  of  economy 
and  economic  geography  is  illustrated  by  detailed  stories  about 
seven  of  the  simpler  peoples,  whose  natural  environments  differ 
as  widely  as  possible.     A  plan  is  then  outlined  by  which  the 

5 


6  PRKI  ACI': 

pupil  may  undertake  a  study  of  the  economic  geogra[)hy  of 
his  own  community.  While  material  for  this  is  bcin<;  collected 
outside  the  textbook,  and  largely  outside  the  schoolroom,  the 
natural  foundations  upon  which  all  human  economics  are  based 
and  the  general  principles  of  economic  geography  may  be  learned 
from  the  text. 

An  attempt  to  cover  the  whole  world  in  an  elementary  book 
would  result  in  a  treatment  meager,  scrappy,  and  confusing. 
Therefore  Part  II  is  confined  to  the  Economic  Geography  of  the 
United  States.  In  area,  in  extent  and  variety  of  resources,  and 
in  complexity  of  economic  conditions,  this  country  is  equivalent 
to  the  whole  of  Europe.  To  treat  it  as  one  economic  unit  would 
seem  almost  as  objectionable  as  to  treat  Europe  as  a  unit.  The 
United  States  is,  therefore,  divided  into  five  natural  economic 
regions,  or  groups  of  states,  each  having  a  marked  individuality 
of  its  own,  which  can  be  compared  and  contrasted  with  the 
others.  Frequent  comparisons  with  other  leading  countries  are 
used  to  give  an  outline  of  the  economic  geography  of  the  world. 

Special  pains  have  been  taken  to  make  the  book  sufficiently 
elementary  for  Grades  7  to  9,  to  make  it  as  interesting  as  the 
subject  matter  permits,  and  to  present  a  series  of  graphic  pic- 
tures of  economic  life  in  many  phases.  With  few  exceptions, 
the  latest  authentic  data  have  been  used  and  arranged  in  tables 
convenient  for  comparison.  The  aim  has  been  to  make  the 
burden  of  statistics  as  light  as  possible  and  to  show  the  pupil 
what  statistics  mean.  To  this  end  the  statements  in  the  text 
are  usually  given  in  round  numbers  or  in  percentages  of  some 
standard  quantity.  Distributions  are  shown  by  numerous  maps 
and  graphs.  Cities,  regarded  as  the  final  and  characteristic 
product  of  modern  economic  forces  acting  under  geographic 
influences,  are  treated  with  unusual  fullness.  More  than  100 
pictures  have  been  carefully  selected  to  illustrate  the  text. 
It  is  hoped  that  this  book,  while  meeting  the  usual  demands  for 
a  commercial  geography,  may  prove  nothing  less  than  geo- 
graphical and  something  more  than  commercial. 


CONTENTS 

PART   I.     HUMAN   ECONOMIES    AND    THEIR   NATURAL 
FOUNDATIONS 

CHAPTER                                                                                                                                             '  PAGE 

I.     Introduction.     Economy 9 

II.     Economic  Relations 13 

III.  The  Studv  of  Home  Economies 46 

IV.  The  Natural  Foundations  of  Human  Economy     .        .  50 
V.     Plant  Regions  and  Resources 55 

VI.     Mineral  and  Marine  Resources 71 

VII.     Industry  and  Trade 80 

VIII.     Economies  and  Economic  Societies 87 


PART    II.     ECONOMIC    GEOGRAPHY    OF    THE   UNITED 
STATES 

IX.     Natural  Economic  Regions  of  the  United  States       .  95 

X.    The  Middle  West:   Agriculture 106 

XI.     The  Middle  West:    Stock  Raising 123 

XII.     The  Middle  West:   Manufactures 132 

XIII.  The  Middle  West:   Commerce  and  Transportation     .  149 

XIV.  The  Middle  West:    Cities 162 

XV.    The  Eastern  States 182 

XVI.     The  Eastern  States:  Mineral  and  Forest  Products  .  190 

XVII.     The  Eastern  States:    Manufactures       ....  206 

XVIII.     The  Eastern  States:    Commerce  and  Transportation  233 

XIX.     The  Eastern  States:   Agriculture  and  Fisheries        .  239 

XX.    The  Eastern  States:   Cities 245 

XXI.     The  Southern  States 269 

XXII.     The  Southern  States:   Agriculture       ....  277 

7 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

XXIII.  The  Southern  States:  Minerals,  Forests,  Manufac- 

tures. Commerce,  and  Cities    ..... 

XXIV.  The  Interior  States 

XXV.     The  Interior  States:   Herdinc;  and  Agriculture 

XXVI.    The  Interior  States:   Mininc;         .         .  .         . 

XXVII.     The  Interior  States:   Transportation  and  Cities     . 

XXVIII.     The  Pacific  States 

XXIX.     The    Pacific    States:     Collective    and    Productive 

Industries 

XXX.     The  Pacific  States:   Manufactures,  Commerce,  and 

Cities  

XXXI.     The  Outlying  Territories  and  Dependencies  of  the 

United  States 

XXXII.     Foreign  Commerce  of  the  United  States   . 
XXXIII.     The  Economic  Work  of  the  Government    . 


STATISTICAL   APPENDIX 
INDEX        ... 


303 
312 
326 

333 
343 

349 
361 

370 
382 

392 

395 
407 


^/o  ■!  SS^ 


PART   I 

HUMAN  ECONOMIES  AND  THEIR  NATURAL 
FOUNDATIONS 


CHAPTER   I 
INTRODUCTION.     ECONOMY 

Housekeeping.  —  Probably  every  family  of  your  acquaintance, 
including  your  own,  does  some  kind  of  work  for  a  living.  Out  of 
the  20,000,000  families  in  the  United  States,  very  few  are  rich 
enough  to  live  in  idleness.  A  group  of  persons,  mostly  related 
by  birth,  who  occupy  the  same  house  or  home  at  least  to  eat  and 
sleep  in,  form  a  family  or  household.  Different  members  con- 
tribute in  different  ways,  by  service  or  money  earned  outside, 
to  the  support  of  the  family.  The  welfare  of  these  people  de- 
pends largely  upon  the  amount  earned,  the  way  in  which  the 
income  is  spent,  the  kind  of  service  rendered  and  the  general 
management  of  the  household.  The  ancient  Greeks  called 
housekeeping  occonomia,  meaning  household  management,  a 
word  which  appears  in  the  English  economy,  economic,  economical. 

All  the  people  in  a  community,  city,  state,  or  country  work 
together  on  a  large  scale  and  in  a  complex  way  to  maintain  and 
increase  their  common  wealth  and  prosperity.  In  that  sense 
they  may  be  regarded  as  forming  one  household  practicing  the 
same  economy.  The  whole  human  species  may  be  thought  of 
as  one  great  family  occupying  the  earth  as  a  home.  This  con- 
ception may  be  enlarged  to  include  our  brethren,  the  animals 
and  plants,  for  they  share  with  us  the  opportunities  of  getting  a 
living,  and  our  welfare  is  bound  up  with  theirs.  Thus  there 
comes  to  be  plant  economy,  animal  economy,  family  economy, 

9 


lO  INTRODUCTION.     ECONOMY 

civic  economy,  national  economy,  and  perhaps  world  economy, 
all  closely  related  and  worth  studying  together.  Economy  in  its 
broadest  sense  has  come  to  mean  the  way  in  which  living  creatures 
get  a  living.     It  is  the  "  bread  and  butter  "  side  of  life. 

Environment.  —  A  stalk  of  corn  or  an  oak  tree  must  depend 
for  its  living  upon  the  resources  and  conditions  around  it.  If  the 
soil  is  rich  and  is  kept  moist  by  frequent  rains,  if  the  air  is  warm 
and  the  sun  shines  through  a  sufficiently  long  season,  the  plant 
will  grow,  flourish,  and  produce  fruit  and  seed.  Deer  can  live 
and  multiply  only  where  they  find  grass  and  water  the  year  around 
and  where  there  are  not  too  many  enemies  to  kill  them  off. 
Lions  can  live  only  where  deer  and  other  defenseless  animals 
are  numerous  enough  to  supply  them  with  food. 

So  men  must  depend  upon  the  natural  resources  around  them 
for  materials  from  which  to  make  a  living.  The  coal  miner 
works  only  where  there  is  coal,  the  lumberman  in  the  forest, 
the  fisherman  along  the  coast.  The  farmer  must  adapt  his 
crops  to  the  soil  and  climate  of  his  farm,  the  merchant  his  goods 
to  the  wants  of  his  community,  the  manufacturer  his  products  to 
the  demands  of  his  market.  Men  may  reach  out  over  a  large 
territory  and  make  use  of  things  brought  from  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  but  they  must  produce  something  at  home  with  which  to  buy 
the  foreign  goods.  The  relief  of  the  land  around  a  man's  home 
and  its  position  in  relation  to  rivers  and  the  sea  determine  to 
what  extent  he  can  procure  foreign  goods  and  what  they  will 
cost.  The  climate  and  the  materials  available  determine  the 
kind  and  style  of  clothing  he  wears  and  the  houses  he  builds. 
The  work  men- do  and  the  lives  they  lead  are  strongly  influenced 
by  the  environment  in  which  they  live,  each  man^s  environment 
being  that  part  of  the  face  of  the  earth  with  which  he  is  closely 
related. 

Geography.  —  Geography  is  still  what  it  has  always  claimed 
to  be,  a  description  of  the  earth.  But  the  geographers  of  to-day 
are  not  satisfied  with  knowing  simply  where  mountains,  rivers, 


NATURAL   RESOURCES  II 

forests,  deserts,  peoples,  and  cities  are ;  they  want  to  know  how 
they  have  come  to  be  where  and  what  they  are,  and  why  those  of 
one  region  are  so  dijjcrent  from  those  of  another. 

Few  plants,  animals,  or  men  can  live  in  the  polar  regions  on  account  of 
cold  and  darkness,  and  few  in  the  desert  on  account  of  lack  of  water.  Dense 
forests  flourish  near  the  equator  because  of  continuous  heat  and  moisture, 
but  men  are  more  numerous  and  highly  civilized  in  temperate  grasslands 
than  in  deserts  or  equatorial  forests.  Plants,  animals,  and  men  differ  in 
different  parts  of  the  world  largely  because  of  their  different  environments. 
Modern  geography  undertakes  to  make  a  scientific  study  of  all  sorts  of 
environments  and  to  learn  how  i)lants,  animals,  and  men  are  influenced  by 
them  and  adapted  to  live  in  them. 

Economic  geography  is  a  study  of  the  different  kinds  of  environ- 
ments as  they  affect  the  different  ways  in  which  men  get  a  living, 
and  deals  with  natural  resources^  industries,  and  the  distribution 
of  useful  products. 

Natural  Resources.  — •  A  natural  resource  is  anything  provided 
by  nature  which  men  can  use  to  satisfy  their  wants.  It  may  be 
(i)  mineral,  like,  soil,  coal,  and  iron  from  the  earth  crust,  salt 
from  the  sea,  or  nitrogen  from  the  air ;  (2)  vegetable,  like  wood 
and  wheat ;  (3)  animal,  like  meat  and  wool ;  or  (4)  energy,  like 
sunshine  and  water  power.  Some  resources  can  be  used  directly 
in  their  natural  state,  as  fruits  and  water  for  food ;  but  in  most 
cases  men  must  expend  labor,  not  only  in  procuring  them,  but 
in  making  them  more  fit  for  use  by  some  process  of  manufacture. 

In  other  words,  men  must  work  for  a  living.  Timber  must  be 
felled  and  cut  into  useful  shapes,  iron  must  be  extracted  from  the 
ore  and  made  into  tools  and  machines,  wheat  must  be  ground 
into  flour  and  baked  into  bread,  wool  must  be  sheared,  spun, 
and  woven  into  cloth,  and  water  power  must  be  harnessed  to 
drive  machinery  and  furnish  heat  and  light.  Civilized  men 
use  very  few  things  which  are  not  changed  and  made  more  valu- 
able in  some  way  by  human  labor. 

All  but  the  most  primitive  and  uncivilized  men  satisfy  some 


12  INTRODUCTION.      IXONOMY 

of  their  wants  by  trade  or  the  exchange  of  ])r()(lucts  with  their 
neighbors.  This  makes  it  necessary  to  carry  or  transport  goods 
from  one  place  to  another.  The  degree  of  civihzation  of  any 
people  may  be  measured  by  the  quantity  and  value  of  the  goods 
which  they  obtain  by  trade  and  transportation. 

That  part  of  economic  geography  which  deals  with  the  work 
involved  in  obtaining  and  manufacturing  useful  products  is 
called  industrial  geography. 

That  part  of  economic  geography  which  deals  with  the  trans- 
portation and  exchange  of  goods  is  called  commercial  geography. 

The  problem  of  economic  geography  may  be  stated  in  a  sort 
of  mathematical  formula,  thus : 

Home  =         Work         =  People 

or  Environment      =     Industries      =    Human  Life 

The  sign  =  means  here,  not  equals,  but  influences  or  controls. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  other  meaning  than  "household  management"  has  the  word 
"  economy  "? 

2.  What  is  the  difference  between  a  man's  environment  and  his  home? 

3.  How  can  the  study  of  economic  geography  help  people  to  get  a  better 
living  ? 

4.  Which  is  the  larger  subject,  economic  geography  or  commercial 
geography  ? 

5.  If  you  were  planning  to  migrate  to  some  other  farm,  town,  or  country, 
what  would  you  want  to  know  about  the  environment  before  you  moved? 


CHAPTER    II 
ECONOMIC   RELATIONS 

If  any  of  us  were  turned  out  to  shift  for  ourselves  in  an  unin- 
habited country  Hke  the  northeastern  part  of  the  United  States, 
we  might  quiet  the  first  pangs  of  hunger  by  eating  clay,  as  some 
people  do,  but  we  could  not  live  long  on  that.  We  might 
find  grass,  wild  carrots,  huckleberries,  strawberries,  blackberries, 
and  beech,  hickory,  walnut,  and  chestnut  trees  growing  on  the 
clay  soil,  and  they  would  supply  roots,  fruit,  and  nuts  which 
would  keep  us  from  starvation.  We  might  lind  rabbits,  musk- 
rats,  squirrels,  deer,  and  buffaloes  plentiful,  because  they  can 
multiply  and  grow  fat  on  grass,  nuts,  and  roots.  If  we  could 
catch  and  kill  them,  raw  or  roasted  rabbit,  venison,  or  bufifalo 
beef  would  be  welcome  additions  to  our  dinner.  Our  diet  might 
be  varied  by  the  flesh  and  eggs  of  wild  turkeys  and  other  birds 
which  feed  upon  seeds,  insects,  and  worms,  by  mussels  and  fish 
from  the  streams,  and  by  bread  made  from  wild  rice  and  pond 
lily  heads  growing  in  the  marshes  (Fig.  2).  Even  the  luxury  of 
honey  might  be  provided  by  wild  bees,  or  sugar  might  be  obtained 
from  maple  sap. 

Daubing  our  bodies  with  mud  would  furnish  some  protection 
from  heat,  cold,  and  mosquitoes,  but  better  clothing  could  be 
made  from  grass,  leaves,  and  bark,  and  best  of  all  from  the  skins 
of  muskrats,  rabbits,  and  deer,  or  of  foxes  and  wolves  which 
might  prey  upon  them.  Shelter  from  storms,  protection  from 
wolves  and  bears,  and  a  hiding  place  to  sleep  in  might  be  found 
in  a  thicket,  in  a  hollow  tree,  under  a  cliff,  in  a  rocky  cavern, 
or  in  a  hole  dug  out  of  a  bank.  A  hut  built  of  sticks,  bark,  or 
rushes,  or  a  tent  of  skins  would  be  generally  more  comfortable. 

13 


14 


ECONOMIC    RELATIONS 


In  this  simj)le  life  we  could  use  sharp  sticks  for  spears,  sharp 
stones  for  knives  and  axes,  bone  fishhooks  and  bark  Hnes  and 
nets,  or  even  invent  bows  and  arrows  with  flint  heads.  In  the 
course  of  time  we  might  become  expert  runners,  archers,  and 

hunters  ;  but, 
however  ingenious 
we  might  be  in 
making  use  of  the 
resources  of  the 
country,  we  could 
not  live  at  all  with- 
out the  help  of 
plants  and  animals , 
and  the  animals 
all  depend  upon 
the  plants.  Plants 
need  only  earth, 
water,  air,  and 
sunshine  to  cover 
the  ground  with 
a  carpet,  which 
may  grow  into  a 
forest  hundreds  of 
feet  high.  Roots, 
stems,  leaves, 
fruits,  and  seeds, 
all     furnish    food 


Fig.  2. — Wild  rice  and  pond  lilies. 


for  many  species  of  animals,  and  these  in  turn  are  preyed  upon  by 
other  animals.  Men  draw  upon  all  these  sources  to  supply  their 
innumerable  wants,  and  so  human  life  and  welfare  are  bound 
up  with  the  lives  and  welfare  of  all  other  creatures.  Life,  every- 
where and  always,  means  living  together,  and  it  often  makes 
strange  bedfellows. 

This  imaginary  picture  is  not  unlike  the  life  of  the   North 


THE   YAHGANS   OR   CHANNEL   INDIANS  1 5 

American  Indians  before  white  men  discovered  the  country. 
Many  similar  instances  of  actual  human  life  may  be  found 
in  various  parts  of  the  world,  differing  in  details  according  to 
the  environment,  but  all  illustrating  the  same  economic 
relations. 

The  Yahgans  or  Channel  Indians.  —  The  southern  end  of 
South  America  looks  on.  the  map  as  if  it  had  been  broken  into 
a  thousand  pieces.  It  is  a  tangled  chain  of  islands,  peninsulas, 
capes,  and  promontories,  separated  by  a  maze  of  channels,  in- 
lets, bays,  and  coves.  The  rugged  ridges  and  spurs  of  a  mountain 
range  rise  steeply  from  the  water's  edge.  Stormy  west  winds  from 
the  Pacific  bring  almost  constant  clouds,  which  drench  the  slopes 
with  rain.  It  is  neverjvarm  or  very  cold,  although  snow  falls 
even  in  midsummer.  ^  There  is  an  alternation  of  summer  and 
winter  every  week.  The  land  is  covered  with  a  forest  so  dense 
that  few  animals  can  penetrate  or  live  in  it.  The  native  people 
are  Indians  who  live  along  the  shore,  more  on  water  than  on 
land.  They  move  about  from  cove  to  cove  in  canoes  made  of 
slabs  of  bark  sewed  together  with  sinew  and  braced  with  ribs. 
These  canoes  are  about  25  feet  long  and  four  feet  wide,  with  sharp 
ends,  and  are  models  for  speed,  .safety,  and  capacity. 

The  principal  food  of  these  people  consists  of  limpets,  soft  shell- 
fish which  cling  to  rocks  along  the  shore,  and  which  at  low  tide 
are  pried  off  by  the  women  with  sharp  sticks.  These  are  eaten 
raw  or  slightly  roasted  over  a  fire  kept  burning  on  sods  in  the 
bottom  of  the  canoe.  The  Indians  strike  fire  with  a  piece  of 
iron  ore  and  catch  the  sparks  in  birds'  down.  Fish  are  plentiful 
and  are  caught  with  a  seaweed  line  without  a  hook.  The  people 
eat  berries,  and  a  sweet,  mucilaginous  fungus  growing  in  the  damp 
woods  takes  the  place  of  bread.  They  let  themselves  down  by  a 
.seaweed  rope  to  gather  birds'  eggs  on  the  face  of  the  cliffs.  They 
kill  seals  and  sea  otters  with  bone-headed  harpoons,  or  with 
bows  and  arrows,  and  throw  round  stones  with  a  rawhide  sling. 
Their  most  ingenious  tool  is  an  ax  made  from  a  five-inch  clam- 


i6 


ECONOMIC    Ri:i,.VriONS 


shell  lashed  to  a  stone  for  weight.  The  edge  is  keen  but  frail  and 
requires  a  quick  and  delicate  hand.  With  light  and  rai)id 
strokes  they  can  fell  a  tree  or  shape  a  i)a(Ulle. 


Fig.  3.  —  Yahgan  Indians,  with  canoe  and  shelters. 

The  Yahgans  cover  their  bodies  with  grease,  and  in  very 
stormy  weather  hang  a  sealskin  over  their  shoulders  (Fig.  3). 
Their  huts  consist  of  a  few  poles  covered  on  the  weather  side  with 
boughs  and  grass,  and  left  wide  open  toward  the  fire.  A  little 
dry  grass  serves  for  a  seat  or  a  bed.  Almost  unclothed  and 
shelterless  in  a  land  of  fierce  and  freezing  storms,  they  never 
freeze  or  shiver.  With  passing  ships  they  exchange  seal  and 
other  skins  for  glass  beads,  which  they  prefer  to  knives  and 
hatchets. 

The  land  furnishes  them  a  resting  place,  shelter,  and  materials 
for  canoes  and  weapons.     The  sea  furnishes  abundant  animal 


THK    ESKIMOS 


17 


food,  which  they  secure  vvithoul  ,L!;reat  exertion.  They  arc  as 
closely  dependent  upon  the  land  and  water,  trees,  and  shellfish 
as  the  Hmpets  are  upon  the  water  and  rocks.  In  their  circum- 
stances and  with  their  materials,  they  are  almost  perfectly 
adapted  to  their  environment.  They  are  bright,  quick-witted, 
and  contented  with  an  apparently  miserable,  but  not  laborious 
existence  in  one  of  the  most  uninviting  regions  of  the  world. 
They  have  responded  successfully  to  the  few  demands  of  their 
simple  life. 

The  Eskimos.  —  The  Arctic  lands  of  North  America  comprise 
an  archipelago  of  large  islands,  of  which  Greenland  is  the  largest, 
and  a  wide  tract  of  "  barren  grounds  "  bordering  upon  Hudson 
Bay  and  the  ocean.  The  climate  is  severe,  with  a  dark,  stormy 
winter  of  eight  or  ten  months  and  a  cold,  foggy  summer  of  two 
to  four  months.  The  winter  temperatures  fall  to  —  70°,  and  the 
summer  temperatures  cannot  rise  much  above  freezing  on  ac- 
count of  the  fields  of  ice  and  snow.  Greenland  is  a  high  plateau 
almost  buried  under  an  ice  sheet  thousands  of  feet  thick.  Most 
of  the  other  lands  are  low  and  free  from  snow  in  summer.  The 
straits,  bays,  sounds,  and  fiords  are  covered  in  winter  with 
floe  (sea)  ice  many  feet  thick  which  is  broken  and  drifted  about 
by  tides,  winds,  and  currents.  The  ice  sheets  and  streams  of  the 
highlands  discharge  into  the  sea  immense  bergs,  which  choke 
the  inlets  and  passages  at  all  seasons.  The  bare  and  marshy 
grounds  produce  coarse  grass,  lichens,  mosses,  and  stunted  shrubs 
sufficient,  even  in  Greenland,  to  support  hares,  musk  oxen,  and 
caribou.  Millions  of  sea  birds  rest  upon  the  shores,  coming  and 
going  with  the  season.  In  the  water  and  on  the  ice,  seals,  wal- 
ruses, and  polar  bears  find  subsistence  by  catching  fish. 

This  region  has  been  occupied  for  centuries  by  Eskimos,  who 
move  about  a  good  deal  but  do  not  venture  far  from  the  sea 
upon  which  they  chiefly  depend.  To  them  the  seal  is  the  most 
valuable  resource.  Seals  are  hunted  on  the  ice  and  with  a 
kayak,  or  sealskin  boat,  which  will  not  sink  when  upset.     Seal 

ELEM.   ECON.    GEOG. 2 


1 8  ECONOMIC   RELATIONS 

llcsh  is  the  Eskimos'  j)rinci])al  food,  seal  blubber  almost  their 
only  fuel,  and  from  sealskin  their  clothinji;,  boats,  and  tents 
are  made.  A  lo<jj  of  driftwood  from  the  continent  is  a  jirize,  and 
metals  are  obtained  only  from  white  traders.  Walrus  and  bear 
skins  serve  for  rugs  and  beds.  Sledges  of  wood  and  bone  tied 
together  with  thongs  are  drawn  by  dog  teams  which  travel  some- 
times seventy  miles  a  day.  Dogs  are  also  used  in  hunting  the 
polar  bear.  They  are  strong,  hardy,  impervious  to  cold,  and  can 
live  upon  one  frozen  fish  a  day. 

In  regions  farther  from  the  coast  there  is  greater  dependence  upon  land 
supplies.  The  caribou  takes  the  economic  place  of  the  seal,  and  the  bow 
is  used  instead  of  the  harpoon.  In  early  spring  the  caribou  migrate  in  herds 
across  the  ice  from  the  mainland  to  the  islands,  get  fat,  and  return  with 
calves  in  the  autumn.  While  on  the  march  they  are  slaughtered  in  great 
numbers,  and  their  flesh  is  dried,  or  smoked,  or  cut  up  and  mixed  with  fat 
to  make  pemmican  for  winter  use.  Their  hides  are  cured  for  clothing,  tents, 
and  rope,  and  from  their  bones  and  horns,  spearheads,  fishhooks,  chisels, 
and  scrapers  are  made.  Whitefish  and  salmon  are  caught  in  the  streams 
^,tJJe  women,  children,  and  old  men. 

In  winter,  huts  (Fig.  4)  are  made  of  blocks  of  snow  laid  in  the 
form  of  a  circular  dome,  which  soon  becomes  frost  and  bear  proof. 
They  are  heated  by  stone  lamps  burning  seal  oil  and  become  so 
warm  that  the  occupants  strip  off  their  garments.  Huts  of 
driftwood,  stones,  and  dirt,  and  in  summer  skin  tents  are  used. 
Such  small  game  as  hares,  birds,  and  lish  is  not  despised,  but 
famine  or  plenty  comes  according  to  the  catch  of  seals  or  caribou. 
The  feast  which  follows  a  successful  hunt  is  shared  by  all  the 
neighbors.  Some  trade  is  carried  on  with  white  people,  seal- 
skins, walrus  ivory,  whalebone,  and  eider  down  being  exchanged 
for  knives,  needles,  and  even  firearms.  The  men  lish,  hunt,  drive 
dogs,  build  huts,  and  make  harpoons.  The  women  cut  and  cook 
the  game,  dress  and  prepare  skins,  make  clothing,  kayaks,  and 
large  open  boats,  and  care  for  the  children. 

The  Eskimos  are  sea  people,  but  get  more  from  the  land  than 


THK   SOUril   SKA    ISLANDERS 


19 


the  Yahgans  do.  The  severe  chmate  and  the  poverty  of  the 
environment  make  the  conditions  of  Hfe  so  hard  that  it  can  be 
maintained  only  by  constant  effort.     From  necessity  the  Eskimos 


Fig.  4.  —  Eskimos  building  a  snow  hut. 

have  become  expert  in  making  and  handling  a  kayak,  in  har- 
pooning seals,  in  hunting  caribou  and  bears,  in  snow-house 
building,  and  in  driving  dog  teams.  In  variety  and  ingenuity 
of  implements  and  weapons  they  stand  supreme  among  hunting 
peoples.  They  have  domesticated  and  trained  the  dog  to  be  an 
efficient  helper,  and  have  adopted  a  division  of  labor  between 
men  and  women.  They  have  no  government  and  need  none, 
but  their  varied  industries  and  their  superior  skill  and  intelli- 
gence place  them  far  above  the  Yahgans,  whose  simple  life  de- 
mands so  little. 

The  South  Sea  Islanders.  —  Tahiti,  a  large  island  of  the 
Society  group,  in  the  middle  of  the  south  Pacific  Ocean,  consists 
of  a  mountainous  mass  of  old  lava  about  thirty  miles  in  diameter. 
Its  jagged  peaks  rise  7000  feet  above  the  sea  and  their  slopes 


20  ECONOMIC   RELATIONS 

are  scarred  with  deep  ravines.  The  streams  have  carried  sedi- 
ment to  the  sea  and  girdled  the  island  all  around  with  a  flat, 
alluvial  plain  about  a  mile  wide.  When  Captain  Cook  visited 
the  island  in  1769,  he  found  the  coast  plain  densely  populated  by 
tall,  brown,  handsome  people,  living,  in  a  forest  of  breadfruit, 
coconut,  and  other  trees  which  sprang  from  the  rich  volcanic 
soil.  Each  house  stood  by  itself  in  a  clearing  just  large  enough 
for  it,  and  consisted  of  a  thatched  roof,  supported  on  rows  of 
posts  and  without  walls.  The  floor  covered  with  soft  hay  and 
mats  was  used  only  for  sleeping. 

There  was  food  in  profusion  and  variety  to  be  had  for  the 
gathering.  Plantations  of  breadfruit  trees  yielded  fruit  some- 
thing like  a  loaf  of  bread,  rather  flavorless  but  nutritious,  nine 
or  ten  months  in  the  year.  "  If  a  man  in  the  course  of  his  life 
planted  ten  such  trees,  which  might  take  the  labor  of  an  hour,  he 
would  as  completely  fulfill  his  duty  to  his  own  and  future  genera- 
tions as  we,  natives  of  less  temperate  climate,  can  do  by  toiling 
in  the  cold  of  winter  to  sow  and  in  the  heat  of  summer  to  reap." 
Coconuts,  thirteen  varieties  of  bananas,  plantains,  sweet  pota- 
toes, yams,  taro,  and  many  other  kinds  of  roots  and  fruits  grew 
everywhere. 

In  the  sea  were  fish,  lobsters,  and  crabs  in  vast  variety.  The  only  use- 
ful land  animals  were  pigs,  fowls,  and  dogs,  the  flesh  of  dogs  fed  on  vege- 
tables being  equal  to  English  lamb.  The  natives  had  no  vessel  for  boiling 
and  "  no  more  idea  that  water  could  be  made  hot  than  that  it  could  be  made 
solid."  For  cooking,  wood  mi.xed  with  stones  was  burned  in  a  hole  in  the 
ground.  The  food  wrapped  in  leaves  was  laid  on  the  hot  stones  and  covered 
with  stones,  leaves,  ashes,  and  dirt  in  a  primitive  but  perfect  fireless  cooker. 
Breadfruit  thus  baked  resembles  a  boiled  potato.  Beaten  up  with  coconut 
milk  it  forms  a  delicious  custard.  Meals  were  eaten  out  of  doors  with 
leaves  for  tablecloth  and  coconut  shells,  split  bamboo  knives,  and  the  eater's 
own  teeth  and  nails  for  utensils.  The  first  course  was  raw  fish  followed  by 
many  dishes  of  starchy  food,  of  which  a  man  would  eat  an  incredible  quan- 
tity. Sea  water  was  used  for  seasoning,  up  to  a  half  pint  at  a  meal.  The 
natives  drank  coconut  milk  and  ate  raw  sugar  cane  but  had  no  alcoholic 
liquor  or  narcotic. 


THK   SOUTH   SRA    ISLANDERS 


21 


Cloth  was  made  from  the  inner  bark  of  trees,  one  of  which, 
the  ])aper  mulberry,  was  i)lante(l.  The  bark  was  soaked  in  water, 
beaten  with  sticks,  and  pasted  together  in  strips  of  any  desired 
dimensions.  This  was  dyed  red  or  yellow  and  wrapped  around 
the  body,  making  a  garment  softer  and  cooler  than  fine  cotton. 
Matting,  baskets,  hats,  thread,  lines,  and  nets  were  made  of 
barU.;     Clubs   of '  hard   wood,    spears   twenty   feet   long,   slings. 


A 

mni 

\   '1           Ifc. 

.  /    ^n 

i 

Miisaafii 

'■'^M  y^'-  'tirh  ^  -^ '^•'*' 

t'',^^  i^^  ^ij  JjittktiiSk 

Fig.  s. — Tahitian  war  canoes. 

stone  axes,   files  made  of  coral  stems,   and   chisels  of  human 
bone  were  used. 

Their  greatest  mechanical  achievement  was  the  making  of 
boats  from  logs  hollowed  out  and  built  up  with  planks  sewed 
on  with  coconut  fiber.  These  boats  were  from  ten  to  seventy 
feet  long,  but  only  two  or  three  feet  wide  (Fig.  5).  Two  were 
fastened  together  side  by  side  with  cross  poles,  and  fitted  with 
deck,  cabin,  and  standards.  "  To  build  a  canoe  with  their 
tools  was  as  great  a  work  as  to  build  a  British  man-of-war  with 
ours."     When  gold,  silver,  and  copper  coins  and  iron  nails  were 


22  ECONOMIC   RELATIONS 

laid  down  for  them  to  choose  from,  the  nails  were  always  taken 
first. 

The  Tahitians  were  very  clean,  courteous,  and  affable,  but  great 
thieves.     Their  daily  bread  was  always  sufficient  for  the  day, 
and  they  had  but  little  need  to  provide  for  the  future.     In  their 
environment  the  tropical  profusion  of  resour^fc  for  the  suoport 
of  human  life  relieved  them  of  incentive  t(3*|^-tion,  ^|^^ey 
were  in  no  way  superior  to  the  Eskimos.     For  meir  bestif^^Hop- 
ment  men  require  some  hardship,  but  not  too  much.    Xife  in 
Tahiti  is  as  much  too  easy  as  in  Greenland  it  is  too  hard. 
■'     The   Pueblo   Indians.  —  On   the   dry   plateaus   between   the 
Colorado   River   and   the   Rio   Grande,    the   Spanish   explorers 
found,  400  years  ago,  people  living  in  isolated  villages,  and  called 
them  Pueblo  or  village  Indians.     About   12,000  of  them  still 
live  in  northern  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  in  much  the  same  way 
as  their  ancestors  did.     The  region  is  a  plateau  4000  to  7000 
feet  above  the  sea,  diversified  by  mountain  ranges,  old  volcanoes, 
«^ Bart-topped  table-lands  (mesas),  cliffs,  canyons,  open  sandy  val- 
leys, and  dry  watercourses.     The  air  is  dry  and  the  skies  are 
generally  clear,  permitting  rapid  radiation  of  heat  to  and  from 
the  ground.     The  cold  winters  bring  drifting  snow,  and  the  hot 
summers  bring  violent  thunderstorms  on  the  mountains  and 
sand  storms  over  the  lowlands.     Winds  are  violent  and  "  every- 
thing not  nailed  down  blows  away."     After  rains  the  streams  are 
torrents  for  a  few  hours  but  soon  disappear  in  the  valley  sands, 
leaving  a  belt  of  moist  earth  along  the  lower  course  and  a  few 
pools  in  the  upper.     The  country  is  saved  from  being  an  absolute 
desert  by  the  fact  that  scanty  rainfall  occurs  twice  a  year.     The 
melting  snows  of  spring  and  the  showers  of  midsummer  are 
sufiftcient  to  start  a  quick  growth  of  vegetation  which  makes  the 
desert  blossom  as  the  rose.     Buds,  leaves,  flowers,  fruit,  and  ripe 
seeds  follow  one  another  in  the  space  of  a  few  weeks. 
,„^On--^ree  isolated  projections  of  the  plateau,   seven  to  ten 
miles  apart,   stand  seven  villages  of  the  Hopi  or  "  peaceful 


THE   PUEBLO   INDIANS 


23 


people."     They  crown  the  summits  of  the  cliffs  from  which  they 
are  hardly  distinguishable  in  form  and  color,  and  can  be  reached 


Fig.  6.  —  A  part  of  the  pueblo  of  Acoma,  N.  M. 
the  mesa  in  the  background. 


There  was  once  a  village  on  top  of 
(See  Fig.  172.) 


only  by  a  difl&cult  path  or  rough  stairway.  A  pueblo  (Fig.  6) 
consists  of  a  single  communal  dwelling  of  many  rooms,  built  in 
terraced  stories,  the  upper  being  reached  from  the  roof  of  the 
lower.  There  are  few  openings  except  in  the  flat  roof,  and  the 
apartments  are  reached  by  climbing  up  and  down  ladders. 
The  material  is  stone  plastered  with  adobe ;  wooden  beams  are 
used  to  support  the  roof.  Both  site  and  structure  are  admirably 
suited  for  defense. 

Game  is  scarce  and  fodder  dear,  therefore  the  Hopi  are  not 
hunters  and  make  little  use  of  meat.  Their  chief  dependence  is  a 
variety  of  corn  (Fig.  7)  having  deep  roots  and  short  stalks,  grown 
wherever  the  intermittent  streams  bring  sufficient  moisture. 
The  cultivated  area  is  enlarged  by  irrigation  canals,  formerly 
more  extensive  than  at  present.     To  avoid  a  possible  famine  in 


24 


ECONOMIC    KI'.LATIONS 


a  dry  year,  a  reserve  of  corn  is  kept  in  storage.  They  also  raise 
beans,  melons,  squashes,  peppers,  and  cotton,  and  have  recently 
acquired  from  the  Department  of  Agriculture  wheat,  peaches, 
apricots,  and  other  grains,  fruits,  and  vegetables.  They  keep 
sheep  for  wool,  goats  for  milk,  donkeys  for  transportation,  and 

fowls  for  feathers  and 
fot^^^jjf  but  the  4part 
played  by  animals  in 
Hopi  economy  is 
small. 

Clothing  is  made  of 
cotton  cloth,  originally  of 
their  own  weave,  but  now 
partly  of  commercial  cal- 
ico. The  men  wear  shirts, 
trousers,  and  stockings, 
the  women  a  belted  robe 
like  a  blanket.  Buckskin 
leggings  and  moccasins 
are  worn  for  protection 
from  the  thorny  vegetation.  The  children  wear  no  clothing.  Since  the 
introduction  of  sheep  by  the  Spaniards,  wool  is  also  used.  Blankets  are 
made  from  rabbit  skins,  and  ornamental  work  of  woven  feathers  is  skill- 
fully done.  The  domestic  water  supply  must  be  brought  from  the 
valleys,  and  the  women  cHmb  the  steep  trails  with  full  jars  on  their 
heads.  The  need  for  water  storage  made  the  Pueblo  people  skillful  in 
the  art  of  pottery  from  remote  times.  In  texture,  form,  and  artistic 
decoration  their  earthenware,  made  by  the  women  entirely  by  hand,  is 
superior  to  all  other  Indian  products.  In  prehistoric  times  they  had  no 
metals  and  used  obsidian  (volcanic  glass)  for  cutting  implements.  The 
men  are  now  expert  copper-  and  silversmiths,  making  rings  and  bracelets 
from  Mexican  dollars.  Baskets  are  woven  of  yucca  fiber  and  willow.  The 
bow  and  arrow  and  a  small  curved  club  are  used  with  skill,  but  in  the  mak- 
ing of  weapons  and  the  working  of  wood  they  are  generally  inferior. 


Fig.   7.- 


Bringing  home    the   corn  from  the   field. 
Pueblo  Indian,  Arizona. 


Houses  are  built  by  the  women,  but  the  men  bring  roof  timbers, 
ladder  poles,   and  doorposts  from  the  mountains.     The  stone 


THK    PUI'.BLO   INDIANS 


25 


walls  arc  plastered  with  adobe  and  whitewashed  with  gypsum. 
Windows  are  left  open,  or  closed  with  a  pane  of  translucent  gyp- 
sum. The  living  room,  entered  through  a  hole  in  the  roof,  has 
an  earthen  floor  and  a  hooded  fireplace  with  chimney.  The 
center  of  domestic  life  is  not  so  much  the  hearthstone  as  the 
grinding  trough,  which  is  cemented  to  a  low  platform.  Each 
corr^rtment  of  the  trough 
has  a  sloping  slab  of  hard 
stone  upon  which  the 
women  grind  the  corn, 
using  a  flat  stone  in  the 
hands  with  a  motion  like 
that  of  a  laundress  over  a 
washboard  (Fig.  8).  Meal 
is  mixed  with  water  and 
baked  in  a  jar  over  a  corn- 
cob fire.  "Pancakes  "  are 
made  by  spreading  batter 
on   a  hot  greased    stone. 

Sweetened  cakes  are  baked  in  an  oven  and  "  doughnuts 
fried  in  hot  tallow. 

Cornfields  and  corrals  for  animals  are  located  on  the  slopes 
at  the  foot  of  the  clifl's,  or  where  a  watercourse  issues  from 
the  mouth  of  a  canyon  and  spreads  over  the  plain.  The 
farms  are  often  ten  miles  from  the  village,  and  sometimes  a  man 
will  travel  twenty  miles  to  his  cornfield,  hoe  it,  and  return 
within  twenty-four  hours.  Firewood  and  timber  are  scarce 
and  must  be  brought  long  distances.  A  journey  of  200  miles 
for  salt,  tobacco,  or  pine  boughs  is  not  unusual.  Men  in  the 
desert,  like  other  animals,  have  acquired  speed,  endurance,  and 
tolerance  of  hunger  and  thirst.  The  Hopi  now  exchange  pot- 
tery, cloth,  baskets,  and  silverware  for  many  articles  supplied 
by  white  men,  but  they  are  not  generally  successful  as 
traders. 


Fig.  8.  —  Hopi  Indian  girls  grinding  corn. 
Notice  style  of  hair  dressing,  necklace,  shawl,  and 
rings. 


are 


26  ECONOMIC   RELATIONS 

The  division  of  labor  is  peculiar.  The  men  raise  the  crops,  care  for  the 
animals,  and  carry  the  heavy  loads,  but  also  weave  cloth  and  knit  stock- 
ings. The  women  carry  water,  grind  corn,  and  cook,  but  also  build  and 
own  the  houses.  The  bride  takes  her  husband  to  her  own  home.  The 
Hopi  are  domestic,  industrious,  peaceful,  honest,  and  very  religious.  Vice 
and  crime  are  almost  unknown.  Their  most  important  institutions  are 
secret  societies  for  the  performance  of  religious  rites,  like  the  famous  snake 
dance,  which  they  think  is  necessary  to  bring  their  greatest  blessing,  rain. 
They  worship  the  sun  and  rain  gods. 

The  Pueblo  Indians  are  an  interesting  example  of  a  people 
who  are  sedentary  and  closely  attached  to  their  homes,  who  live 
almost  entirely  by  agriculture  and  make  use  of  irrigation,  who 
build  permanent  houses  of  stone  or  adobe,  and  who  have  brought 
the  arts  of  pottery  and  textile  weaving  to  high  perfection.  Yet 
previous  to  contact  with  white  people,  they  did  not  use  iron 
or  other  metals  and  were  independent  of  trade.  The  Hopi  en- 
vironment is,  in  most  respects,  the  reverse  of  that  of  the  Eskimos, 
yet  its  resources  are  scant  and  the  conditions  of  life  hardly  less 
severe.  Both  peoples  live  upon  the  very  edge  of  their  means 
of  subsistence.  They  have  adapted  themselves  to  their  en- 
vironments by  entirely  different  means,  but  with  equal  inge- 
nuity, and  have  developed  a  curious  similarity  of  character  and 
spirit.  The  Hopi  are  superior  to  the  Eskimos  because  of  coop- 
eration on  a  larger  scale,  their  economic  unit  being  the  village 
or  tribe  instead  of  the  family. 

The  Pueblo  people  do  not  depend  upon  collecting  what  nature 
provides,  as  the  Eskimos  and  South  Sea  Islanders  do,  but  they 
actually  produce  means  of  subsistence  where  few  or  none  are 
to  be  found.  They  do  not  pick  up  a  living,  hut  they  make  a 
living.  Their  activities  and  abilities  are  more  varied  and  their 
life  is  more  complex  than  in  the  case  of  mere  collectors.  They 
have  acquired  the  rudiments  of  agriculture  and  the  domestic  arts 
which,  in  a  more  favorable  environment,  would  form  the  basis  of 
a  high  civilization.     Their  population  is  decreasing. 


THE   AMAZON   PEOPLE  27 

The  Amazon  People.  -  The  Amazon  River  system  drains  an 
area  of  South  America  as  large  as  the  United  States.  The  whole 
basin,  except  the  mountain  slopes  on*  the  west  and  north,  is  a 
vast  plain  gently  sloping  toward  the  river  and  the  sea.  The  sun 
in  its  annual  swing  north  and  south  crosses  the  basin,  and  is 
directly  over  every  part  of  it  twice  a  year,  bringing  a  belt  of  hot, 
rising  air  and  heavy  rains.  During  this  season  more  rain  may 
fall  in  a  day  than  falls  in  temperate  regions  in  a  whole  year. 
When  the  sun  is  not  overhead,  the  trade  winds  sweep  in  from  the 
Atlantic  and  bring  rains,  which  increase  westward  and  are  very 
abundant  on  the  slopes  of  the  Andes.  The  air  is  always  hot  and 
damp,  and  there  is  little  change  of  weather  from  month  to  month, 
except  more  or  less  of  rain.  The  rainfall  of  the  whole  basin  is 
so  great  that  the  rivers  are  of  immense  volume,  some  of  them 
scores  of  miles  wide  from  bank  to  bank,  and  at  some  seasons 
inundating  the  country  on  either  side  for  hundreds  of  piiles^ 

On  account  of  the  constant  heat  and  moisture,  the  Amazon 
basin  is  covered  with  a  growth  of  almost  unbroken  forest,  the 
tallest,  densest,  and  most  extensive  in  the  world.  Along  the 
streams  it  presents  a  solid  and  apparently  impenetrable  wall  of 
vegetation.  There  are  no  openings  and  nothing  within  is  visible 
a  yard  away.  A  clearing  reveals  a  bewildering  diversity  of 
gigantic  trees,  whose  trunks  rise  100  to  200  feet  and  support  a 
dense  roof  of  foHage,  through  which  the  sunlight  can  scarcely 
penetrate  (Fig.  9). 

These  trees  are  draped  with  creepers  and  climbing  vines,  called  lianas, 
which  are  interlaced  over  the  ground  and  in  the  air  in  tangled  confusion. 
Air  plants  anchored  to  the  trunks  and  limbs  send  down  long,  slender  roots 
like  hanging  ropes.  A  man -car  hardly  take  a  step  into  the  forest  without 
cutting  his  way;  to  penetrate  it  two  miles  in  a  day  is  a  severe  task,  and  a 
path  or  road  is  like  a  cool,  dart  tunnel.  If  a  space  is  cleared,  it  will  be  over- 
grown and  filled  up  in  .  year  or  two.  Unlike  a  temperate  forest  which  is 
made  up  of  a  few  kinds  of  trees,  the  Amazon  forest  contains  hundreds  of 
species  on  every  squaie  mile,  among  which  palms  in  great  variety  are  con- 
spicuous.    The  tree  tops  are  populous  with  birds,  monkeys,  and  sloths. 


28  ECONOMIC   RELATIONS 

Rodents  of  several  species  and  (k-cr  inhabit  the  ground.  The  i^eceary, 
tapir,  and  jaguar,  or  mountain  lion,  are  the  largest  mammals.  Lizards, 
turtles,  and  snakes,  some  poisonous  and  some  50  feet  long,  are  plentiful. 
The  forests  and  streams  swarm  with  insects,  among  which  beetles  and 
butterflies  are  attractive,  and  ants,  spiders,  moscjuitoes,  ticks,  and  sand- 
flies are  troublesome.  The  waters  abound  in  alligators  and  fish,  some  of 
which  are  dangerous  to  bathers  and  some  are  excellent  eating.  The  streams 
furnish  the  only  routes  by  which  the  forest  can  be  traversed  for  any  con- 
siderable distance,  but  large  steamers  can  ascend  the  river  and  many  of  its 
branches  for  thousands  of  miles,  and  canoes  can  go  in  almost  any  direction. 

The  aboriginal  Indian  inhabitants  have  been  considerably  mixed 
with  negro  and  Portuguese  stock,  but  the  dense  vegetation  ex- 
cludes a  large  human  population  of  any  kind.  Malarial  and 
yellow  fever  and  other  tropical  diseases  are  often  fatal  to  white 
men,  and  deaths  from  poisonous  animals  are  frequent.  Agricul- 
ture is  possible  only  in  small  patches  beyond  the  reach  of  floods. 

The  labor  of  clearing  the  ground  and  keeping  it  clear  of  wild 
growth  is  enormous.  The  Indians  in  the  more  remote  parts  live 
chiefly  upon  wild  roots,  fruits,  and  nuts  and  by  hunting  and 
fishing.  They  use  bows  five  or  six  feet  long  and  arrows  of  equal 
length  tipped  with  iron. 

The  peculiar  and  efficient  weapon  of  the  Amazon  Indians  is  the  blowgun, 
made  of  the  stem  of  a  reed  or  of  a  species  of  palm  (Fig.  9).  It  is  ten  or  fif- 
teen feet  long  and  an  inch  or  two  in  diameter.  It  weighs  only  two  or  three 
pounds  and  is  easily  handled.  The  missile  is  an  arrow,  made  from  the  ribs  of 
a  palm  leaf,  eight  inches  long,  straight,  hard,  brittle,  and  heavy,  but  so  slender 
that  a  bundle  of  a  dozen  is  no  larger  than  a  lead  pencil.  The  point  is  smeared 
with  the  famous  curare  (or  woorali)  poison,  which  is  sure  death  to  a  small 
animal  in  a  few  minutes.  One  pufT  of  breath  will  send  the  arrow  100  to^ 
200  yards,  and  any  animal  scratched  by  ^he  poisoned  tip  seldom  escapes 
alive.  Turtles  and  their  eggs  are  taken  on  the  sandbars,  and  a  large  fish 
weighing  200  pounds  is  shot  with  arrows.  Canoes  40  feet  long  are  made 
by  hollowing  out  a  log  and  spreading  it  in  the  n^i'^'^'e  by  crosspieces. 

Rain-proof  shelter  is  easily  and  quickly  made  of  poles  and 
vines  covered  with  palm  leaves,  which  are  sometimes  30  feet 


THE   AMAZON    PEOPLE 


29 


Fig.  9.  —  Amaziiii  Indian  with  blovvgun. 


ECONOMIC  ri:lations 


long  (Fig.  lo).  Some  tribes  build  communal  houses  loo  to  150 
feet  long,  75  feet  wide,  and  40  feet  high.  The  frame  is  made  of 
smooth,  straight  tree  trunks  set  in  the  ground  and  tied  together 
with  vines.  The  walls  and  roof  are  of  palm  leaves  which  keep  out 
the  rain  and  let  out  the  smoke.  Palm-leaf  partitions  separate 
the  quarters  of  the  different  families,  of  which  as  many  as  50, 


Fig.  10. 


Home  in  the  Amazun  forest. 


comprising  250  men,  women,  and  children,  find  homes  under 
one  roof.  The  only  indispensable  piece  of  furniture  is  the  ham- 
mock, woven  of  grass  fibers  or  cotton.  Its  use  is  so  general 
that  the  Amazon  basin  might  be  called  the  land  of  the  hammock. 
It  is  easily  made,  light,  portable,  can  be  hung  almost  anywhere, 
and  protected  from  ants  and  vermin,  it  serves  well  for  both 
chair  and  bed.  The  Indians  weave  baskets,  and  make  pottery 
by  coiling  ropes  of  clay  upon  a  flat  base  and  burning  the  vessel 
in  a  nest  of  the  white  ant  converted  into  an  oven. 

Among  the  hunting  tribes,  the  men  wear  only  a  belt  and  breechcloth, 
while  the  women  regard  red,  yellow,  and  black  paint,  or  a  purple  dye  poured 


THE   AMAZON   PEOPLE  3 1 

over  the  head  and  shoulders  and  allowed  to  run  down  over  the  body,  as 
suflicienl  clothing.  Ornament  is  confined  to  the  men,  who  dress  their 
hair,  tie  it  in  a  queue  with  a  comb  at  the  top,  crown  the  head  with  parrot 
feathers,  wear  necklaces  and  bracelets  and  a  girdle  of  jaguar  teeth,  and  stick 
two  feathers  through  the  nose  in  place  of  a  mustache.  Some  remote  tribes 
wear  no  clothing  of  any  kind  and  eat  human  flesh. 

The  people  w^ho  have  come  much  in  contact  with  the  whites 
have  adopted  more  or  less  European  clothing.  With  them  also 
agriculture  is  more  important.  They  grow  sugar  cane,  a  kind  of 
potato,  yams,  peppers,  tobacco,  bananas,  pineapples,  and  even 
corn,  which  is  used  chiefly  for  making  an  intoxicating  drink. 

The  staple  crop  and  vegetable  basis  of  subsistence  throughout 
the  Amazon  region  is  the  manioc,  or  mandioca.  This  is  a  strag- 
gling shrub  five  or  six  feet  high,  with  long,  thick  roots  like  those 
of  a  dahlia.  The  men  clear  a  patch  of  ground  by  cutting  and 
burning,  and  the  women  plant  cuttings  of  the  manioc.  There  is 
no  plowing  or  cultivating.  The  fresh  roots  when  grown  are 
bitter  and  poisonous.  They  are  allowed  to  ferment  in  stagnant 
water,  are  peeled,  grated,  and  sifted,  and  the  resulting  paste  is 
strained  in  a  long,  narrow  bag  like  a  stocking  leg,  which  is  hung 
up  at  one  end  and  stretched  by  a  weight  at  the  other.  It  is 
then  roasted  on  an  earthen  pan  over  a  brush  fire.  The  material 
thus  purified  is  known  as  farinha,  and  when  freshly  made  tastes 
like  pop  corn,  but  when  old  like  sawdust.  The  pure  starch 
which  drains  from  the  bag  is  known  in  commerce  as  tapioca. 

In  the  Amazon  forest  nature  is  too  much  for  man.  Plant 
and  animal  life  is  so  vigorous  that  human  life  is  almost  crowded 
out.  The  forests  cannot  be  cleared,  the  dangerous  animals 
cannot  be  exterminated,  most  of  the  country  is  impenetrable, 
and  in  the  face  of  such  obstacles  men  seem  as  helpless  as  babes. 
The  scattered  Indian  tribes  are  literally  lost  in  the  woods,  and 
there  are  millions  of  people  who  have  never  seen  a  white  man. 
Shut  in  to  struggle  with  the  forest,  they  are  less  successful  than 
the  Eskimos  with  the  ice  or  the  Hopi  with  the  desert.     The 


32  ECONOMIC  ri:lations 

great  natural  wealth  of  the  countr}-  has  not  so  far  been  of  much 
use  to  the  natives,  either  directly  or  indirectly  by  bringing  com- 
merce and  contact  with  civilized  people. 

There  are  many  native  plants  and  nuts  which  would  be  of  value  if  they 
could  be  shipped,  of  which  the  well-known  Brazil  nuts  are  an  example. 
The  enormous  wealth  of  the  country  in  timber  is  not  at  present  available 
on  account  of  the  cost  of  transportation  to  civilized  countries.  There  are 
some  sugar  and  chocolate  plantations,  but  most  commercial  enterprises 
are  crowded  out  by  the  climate  and  the  forest. 

The  principal  article  of  export  is  Para  rubber.  This  is  obtained  from 
two  or  more  species  of  tree,  of  which  the  best  grows  upon  flooded  ground 
near  the  streams.  It  is  a  tree  about  60  feet  high,  with  smooth,  gray  bark 
and  thick,  glossy  leaves.  A  V-shaped  cut  is  made  in  the  bark  and  a  cup 
fastened  under  it.  This  is  repeated  every  day  and  about  a  tablespoonful 
of  creamy  liquid  is  secured  from  each  cut.  The  liquid  is  spread  on  a  wooden 
paddle  and  smoked  over  a  palm-nut  fire,  the  process  being  repeated  until 
a  ball  is  formed  which  looks  and  smells  like  a  ham.  This  is  the  crude  rubber 
of  commerce.  The  business  of  collecting  rubber  is  carried  on  by  organized 
companies,  which  send  white  men  and  Indians  into  the  forest  to  find  and  tap 
the  trees  and  bring  the  rubber  to  their  stations  along  the  river.  Rubber  trees 
have  become  scarce  near  the  streams,  and  each  year  the  collectors  are  obliged 
to  penetrate  farther  into  the  forest.  Working  alone  and  exposed  to  disease 
ahd  danger,  the  whites  die,  the  Indians  are  enslaved,  and  neither  get  more 
tfean  they  spend  at  the  stations  during  th^  season  of  fiood^  Thus  the  busi- 
ness, as  conducted,  destroys  the  sources' of  supply,  impoverishes  the  coun- 
try, degrades  the  natives,  and  enriches  foreign  people  at  their  expense. 

The  People  of  the  Steppe.  —  Near  the  center  of  the  great  land 
mass  of  Eurasia,  where  the  loftiest  highlands  in  the  world  slope 
to  the  Caspian  plains,  lies  the  Russian  province  of  Turkestan. 
The  summer  is  hot  and  dry  and  the  winter  is  cold,  but  on  the 
plains  there  is  a  season  of  light  rainfall,  increasing  up  the  slopes 
to  an  elevation  of  about  12,000  feet,  above  which  the  snow  is 
nearly  perpetual.  Grass  is  everywhere  luxuriant  in  its  season 
and  interspersed  with  a  great  variety  of  brilliant  flowers.  Such 
treeless,  grassy  tracts  in  Eurasia  are  called  steppes,  from  a  Russian 
word  meaning  a  plain.     It  is  an  empire  of  grass,  but  grass  always 


THE   PEOPLE   OF   THE   STEPPE  33 

dependent  upon  an  inconstant  water  supply.  The  best  j)asture 
is  in  the  saturated  ground  along  the  edge  of  the  melting  snow. 
The  plains  are  too  dry  for  agriculture  and  the  plateaus  are  too 
cold,  yet  both  produce  vegetation  at  different  seasons.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  steppe,  called  Kirghiz,  are  yellow-skinned, 
black-haired,  slant-eyed  herdsmen  who  have  no  permanent 
homes,  but  wander  about  to  fmd  pasture  for  their  animals. 

The  Kirghiz  keep  all  ihe  mosl  valuable  species  of  domestic  animals,  but 
sheep  are  the  most  numerous,  and  supply  milk,  meat,  wool,  and  hides. 
They  are  large  and  have  tails  so  loaded  with  fat  aslo  drag  on  the  ground. 
Goats  are  kept  for  milk,  and  to  lead  the  sheep  across  streams  and  over  rough 
ground.  Cattle  are  raised  for  milk  and  hides,  but  beef  is  poor  and  seldom 
eaten.  Oxen  and  the  more  hardy  yaks  are  used  for  riding  and  pack  animals. 
A  few  camels  are  kept  for  milk  and  hair  and  as  beasts  of  burden.  They 
are  rather  delicate  and  must  be  protected  from  cold  in  winter  and  from  in- 
sects in  summer,  but  will  carry  a  load  of  800  pounds  abou4:  fifteen  miles  a 
day. 

The  animal  most  highly  prized  is  the  horse,  which  is  used  for  riding, 
never  for  packing  or  draft.  The  mares  are  milked  and  young  colts  are 
sometimes  eaten.  The  horse  endures  heat  and  cold  better  than  dampness. 
The  cropping  teeth  and  small  stomach,  the  round,  barrel-like  body,  the  com- 
bination of  levers  in  the  legs  and  the  solid,  elastic  hoof  are  perfectly  adapted 
to  life  on  dry,  grassy  plains.  Under  such  conditions  the  horse  is  the  most 
efficient  of  animal  motor  machines.  On  the  steppe  he  is  spirited,  good- 
natured,  docile,  courageous,  and  enduring,  and  becomes  the  standard  of 
wealth  and  value.  A  man  without  a  horse  is  a  pauper.  Kirghiz  men  and 
women  are  more  at  home  on  horseback  than  on  the  ground.  Very  young 
children  are  kept  astride  a  block  of  wood,  and  infants  learn  to  ride  on  dogs 
and  sheep.  At  three  years  of  age  a  child  can  sit  on  horseback  with  its  elders 
and  at  eight  is  a  good  horseman.  The  favorite  sport  of  the  Kirghiz  is  horse 
racing,  in  which  these  fearless  and  careless  riders  gallop  up  hill  and  down 
over  any  kind  of  track  to  some  point  ten  or  twenty  miles  distant  and  return. 
They  hunt  wolves,  foxes,  and  wild  sheep  with  hounds  and  falcons. 

For  clothing  the  Kirghiz  produce  at  home  wool,  hides,  camel's 
hair,  goat's  hair,  and  furs,  and  they  buy  cotton  and  silk.  The 
principal  garments  for  men  are  shirts,  trousers,  long  quilted 
gowns  wadded  with  wool,  sheepskin  coats,  felt  hats,  and  rawhide 

ELEM.    ECON.    GEOG.  —  3 


34  ECONOMIC    RICLATIONS 

boots.  The  women  wear  trousers,  a  long  robe  tied  with  a  girdle, 
and  a  large,  twisted  turban  of  cotton  or  silk  ornamented  with 
silver  and  embroidery.  They  must  not  be  encumbered  with 
furniture  or  baggage ;  so  their  dwellings  and  utensils  are  all 
designed  to  be  easily  movable.  The  yurt,  or  kibitka,  is  a  large 
round  tent  with  a  frame  of  upright  poles  bent  and  tied  to  a  central 
ring  at  the  top  and  surrounded  at  the  bottom  by  an  extensible, 
wooden  latticework  (Fig.  1 1).  This  frame  is  covered  with  mats  of 
grass  and  sheets  of  woolen  felt.  It  is  Hght,  airy,  and  comfortable, 
and  can  be  taken  down  or  set  up  by  the  women  in  half  an  hour  and 
carried  on  one  camel.  When  necessary,  a  few  men  can  lift  and 
remove  it  bodily  to  a  clean  spot.  The  felt  yurt  combines  the 
roominess  of  a  house  with  the  lightness  of  a  tent  and  is  the  best 
movable  shelter  yet  invented.  A  well-to-do  family  occupies  six  or 
eight  such  tents,  which  are  furnished  with  woolen  felts  and  rugs, 
cotton  quilts,  and  sometimes  rich  hanging  of  fur,  silk,  and  velvet. 
The  domestic  utensils  consist  of  leather  buckets,  bottles  made 
from  a  whole  sheepskin,  wooden  bowls  and  spoons,  and  a  large 
iron  kettle.  Each  housewife  has  a  wooden  chest  in  which  she 
keeps  her  treasures  of  silk,  silver,  and  china,  and  carries  the  key 
at  the  end  of  her  braid  of  hair. 

Bread  is  unknown  and  vegetable  food  is  very  scarce,  but  all  parts  of 
animals  except  the  bones  are  utilized.  Every  female  animal  is  milked  and 
in  summer  the  people  live  largely  upon  dairy  products.  The  milk  of  sheep 
and  goats  is  kept  separate  from  the  rest  for  making  butter,  cheese,  and  curds. 
Cow's  milk  is  always  soured  before  use.  Their  favorite  and  peculiar  drink 
is  kumiss,  made  by  fermenting  a  mixture  of  mare's  and  camel's  milk  in  a 
leather  bottle  hung  in  a  warm  place.  It  is  agreeable,  digestible,  nutritious, 
and  transportable.  It  is  like  a  combination  of  cream  and  champagne, 
relieves  fatigue  of  body  and  mind,  and  is  slightly  intoxicating.  Travelers 
report  extraordinary  good  health  and  strength  maintained  for  months  on 
an  exclusive  diet  of  kumiss.  In  winter  much  meat  is  eaten,  chiefly  mutton, 
the  fat  of  the  sheep's  tail  being  regarded  as  a  delicacy.  Beef  and  goat's 
flesh  are  poor  and  little  used.  Almost  the  only  foreign  article  of  food  is 
tea,  of  which  they  are  very  fond. 


rm':  pi;orij-,  of   tfik  stkpim-; 


35 


36  ECONOMIC   RELATIONS 

The  wealth  of  a  single  family  may  consist  of  2000  horses, 
1000  cattle,  300  camels,  and  5000  sheep  and  goats.  By  these 
animals  all  the  plant  resources  of  the  country  are  utilized.  Cattle 
feed  on  the  soft  meadow  grass,  horses  on  the  scant  vegetation  of 
rocky  land,  sheep  and  goats  on  coarse,  salty  herbage,  and  camels 
on  thorns  and  thistles.  In  summer  the  camp  may  remain  for 
weeks  at  the  same  spot.  When  the  time  comes  to  move,  the 
men  take  the  horses  out  ahead  in  herds  of  fifteen  to  fifty.  The 
sheep  and  goats  follow,  eating  continuously  as  they  move. 
The  women  and  children  come  last  with  the  tents  and  utensils 
packed  on  camels,  oxen,  and  dogs.  They  overtake  the  flocks 
at  midday,  and  after  tying  the  heads  of  the  ewes  and  the  goats 
together  in  a  circle,  milk  them.  Later  they  milk  the  cows,  and 
the  men  milk  the  mares. 

The  winter  camp  may  be  in  some  protected  valley  watered  by  a  stream 
from  the  mountain  snows.  The  fixed  home  is  a  tent  of  willows  and  reeds, 
or  a  stone  and  mud  house  covered  with  a  stack  of  hay.  Poor  people  who 
have  no  herds  raise  some  hardy  grain,  but  the  rich  scorn  agriculture.  If  the 
snowfall  is  heavy,  the  loss  of  animals  is  great,  and  disease  among  the  animals 
may  bring  starvation  and  ruin.  Each  family  pays  taxes  to  the  Russians, 
but  they  are  exempt  from  military  duty  and  little  interfered  with  by  the 
government.  They  exchange  wool  and  horses  for  grain,  tea,  cotton,  silk, 
silver,  chinaware,  and  iron,  but  they  are  so  nearly  self-sufftcing  that  trade  is 
small. 

Russian  settlers  have  recently  established  themselves  upon  the  slopes 
where  agriculture  can  be  carried  on  by  irrigation.  The  nomads  pass  through 
this  belt  on  their  way  between  winter  quarters  and  the  high  pastures,  and 
the  trade  of  cattle  products  for  grain  is  advantageous  to  both. 

The  women  take  such  an  important  part  in  family  life  that 
they  are  the  equals  of  the  men  in  position  and  influence.  The 
men  are  persistent  and  untiring  horsemen,  herdsmen,  and 
hunters,  but  are  otherwise  indolent.  They  make  leather  saddles 
and  bridles,  and  decorate  weapons  with  silver  and  iron,  but  are 
averse  to  any  sedentary  occupation. 

The  life  of  herdsmen  and  the  experience  in  the  care  and  train- 


THE   APPALACHIAN    HIGHLANDERS  37 

ing  of  animals,  especially  the  horse,  and  in  almost  constant  travel, 
make  the  Kirghiz  self-possessed,  keen  of  sight,  hardy,  brave, 
independent,  and,  when  called  upon,  excellent  lighters.  Upon 
occasion  they  become  fierce  invaders  and  ruthless  destroyers 
of  more  sedentary  people.  The  substitution  of  an  animal  in 
the  place  of  a  vegetable  basis  of  subsistence  develops  qualities  in 
many  respects  the  opposite  of  those  of  the  peaceful,  agricultural 
Pueblo  Indians.  The  nomad  life  forbids  excellence  in  domestic 
arts  and  makes  social  and  political  organization  impossible. 
Hence  nomad  people  can  never  become  highly  civilized. 

The  Appalachian  Highlanders.  —  The  mountainous  region 
in  southeastern  United  States,  from  the  Potomac  River  to 
Georgia,  is  larger  than  New  England,  and  has  a  population  of 
over  3,000,000  (Fig.  33).  Along  the  eastern  border  extends  the 
Blue  Ridge,  a  very  old  range,  narrow  and  much  worn  down  in 
Virginia,  but  broad  and  massive  in  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee. 
There  the  headwaters  of  the  Tennessee  River  have  cut  the  range 
into  distinct  mountain  knots,  which  include  the  highest  land 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  about  fifty  peaks  being  over  6000 
feet  high.  Through  the  middle  of  the  highland  west  of  the 
Shenandoah  and  Tennessee  rivers,  a  belt  about  sixty  miles  wide 
is  occupied  by  hundreds  of  wall-like,  parallel  ridges,  broken  by 
occasional  gaps  and  resembling  the  surface  of  a  washboard. 

West  of  these,  the  plateau  of  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and 
Tennessee,  sloping  gently  toward  the  Ohio,  has  been  cut  by 
the  streams  into  an  intricate  system  of  narrow  valleys  and 
gorges,  branching  like  a  tree  in  every  direction.  The  ridges 
between  the  streams,  600  to  800  feet  high,  are  as  narrow  and 
irregular  as  the  valleys,  and  there  is  hardly  any  level  land. 
The  whole  region  was  originally  covered  almost  to  the  summits 
with  a  heavy^  forest  of  oak,  walnut,  chestnut,  maple,  ash,  poplar, 
and  hemlock,  and  a  dense  undergrowth  of  laurel,  rhododendron, 
and  azalea.  The  climate  is  delightful  in  summer  and  never 
severe,  but  the  rainfall  is  heavy,  the  slopes  are  steep,  and  the 


38 


lOCONO.MIC   RioL.vnoxs 


water  runs  off  rapidly,  carrying  soil,  rocks,  and  timber  down  to 
flood  and  choke  tlic  valleys. 

In  its  wild  state,  the  region  was  full  of  game  and  fish.  Squirrels,  coons, 
weasels,  minks,  and  foxes  are  still  common,  and  bears  and  wildcats  occur 
on  the  mountains.  The  most  important  animals  at  present  are  the  "  razor- 
back  "  hogs  which  forage  upon  nuts,  roots,  and  snakes.  They  are  thin, 
long-legged,  and  tough-skinned,  with  a  snout  like  a  plow.  They  run  like 
a  deer  and  climb  like  a  goat,  and  are  said  to  show  cunning  and  malice  in 
breaking  into  fields,  gardens,  and  dwellings.  They  share  with  dogs,  chick- 
ens, and  geese  the  hospitality  of  the  yard,  porch,  and  house. 

The  highlands  were  settled  in  some  parts  before  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  by  Scotch-Irish,  English,  and  Germans,  and  the 
people  have  changed  but  little  since,  preserving  the  habits  of 
life,  speech,  and  thought  which  were  common  in  the  eighteenth 
century.  Hence  they  have  been  called  "  our  contemporary 
ancestors."     Their  peculiarities  are  due  in  part  to  the  poverty 


I /■/mill  hy  B.  H.  Schockel.) 
Fig.  12.  —  Bed  of  a  stream  used  for  a  road  in  eastern  Kentucky. 

of  the  country,  but  more  to  the  fact  that  they  are  cut  off  from 
intercourse  with  the  world  by  the  difHculties  of  travel.    The  roads 


THE   APPALACHIAN   HIGHLANDERS  39 

follow  the  stream  beds  (Fig.  12)  and  are  passable  only  at  low  water. 
The  few  roads  that  cross  the  ridges  are  cut  through  the  forest, 
washed  by  storms,  and  all  but  impassable.  There  are  few 
bridges  for  wheeled  vehicles.  Teaming  is  serious  work,  requiring 
the  fording  of  streams,  the  removal  of  fallen  trees,  and  the  climb- 
ing of  steep,  rocky  slopes.  A  narrow  sled  is  cheaper,  safer,  and 
more  useful  than  a  wagon  even  in  summer.  Travel  and  trans- 
portation must  be  mostly  on  foot  or  on  horseback,  muleback, 
or  oxback.  A  journey  of  twenty  or  thirty  miles  for  salt,  coffee, 
or  gunpowder  is  not  uncommon. 

The  houses  are  usually  made  by  building  a  single  pen  of  rough 
logs,  such  as  four  men  can  put  up  in  a  day  and  leave  the  owner  to 
finish  at  his  leisure  (Fig.  13) .  The  roof  is  of  split  boards,  three  feet 
long,  laid  like  shingles,  and  the  floor  is  of  plank  hewn  out  with  an 
ax.  An  opening  through  the  logs  is  occupied  by  a  chimney  made 
of  sticks  and  mud  or  stone.  The  door  may  be  made  and  hung 
without  nails  or  metal.  There  is  but  one  room  and  commonly 
but  one  window.  In  some  cases  a  lean-to  kitchen  is  added,  or 
two  log  pens  are  built  with  a  passage  between  and  the  whole 
covered  with  one  roof.  In  a  short  time  the  timber  shrinks  and 
warps,  and  floor,  walls,  and  roof  become  full  of  cracks,  some  of 
which  may  be  chinked  with  mud. 

There  is  little  furniture  and  that  mostly  homemade.  Commonly  there 
are  two  or  more  beds  in  each  room,  the  wooden  frame  tilled  in  with  crossed 
rope  and  covered  with  a  mattress  of  corn  husks  or  straw.  Clothes,  saddles, 
guns,  dried  apples,  peppers,  tobacco,  and  herbs  are  hung  on  pegs  around 
the  room.  In  many  homes,  there  are  spinning  wheels,  hand  looms,  and 
quilting  frames  for  making  cloth  and  bedding.  A  stove,  kettle,  frying  pan, 
coffeepot,  and  a  few  knives  and  coarse  dishes  are  almost  the  only  house- 
hold utensils  obtained  from  the  outside.  For  the  men  an  ax  and  a  rifle 
or  shotgun  are  indispensable.  Kerosene  lamps  are  often  used  without 
a  chimney,  because  glass  is  difiicult  to  carry  without  breaking.  Pine  knots 
and  lard  lamps  are  more  reliable  for  lighting.  A  hollow  log  serves  as  a 
meal  barrel,  a  washtub,  a  beehive,  or  a  cider  press,  and  baskets  are  made  of 
hickory  withes.     There  is  a  box  at  the  spring  for  cold  storage  of  food,  and 


40 


FXONOMIC    RELATIONS 


Fig.  ij.       a  duublc  lug  Labia  in  a  \allcy  of  ca.slcru  KtiUucky.      {Photo  by  li.  H.  Schockcl.) 


THK   APPALACHIAN   HIGHLANDERS  41 

a  block  on  which  soiled  clothes  are  pounded  to  clean  them.  Every  man  is 
his  own  farmer,  carpenter,  tanner,  cobbler,  and  harness  maker,  and  his 
neighbor  may  serve  as  barber  and  dentist.  Whatever  is  wanted,  the  rule 
is  "  make  it  yourself  or  go  without." 

The  people  live  by  farming,  lumbering,  and  hunting,  but  game 
has  become  scarce.  There  is  very  little  bottom  land  in  the 
narrow  valleys  and  most  of  the  fields  lie  on  slopes  nearly  as  steep 
as  the  roof  of  the  house.  On  these  "  perpendicular  farms  " 
cultivation  is  difhcult  and  rude.  The  plow  used  is  little  more  than 
an  iron-shod  stick  drawn  by  a  mule  or  a  steer.  The  soil  is  not 
only  poor  and  thin,  but  after  the  timber  is  cleared,  soon  washes 
away.  After  two  or  three  crops  of  corn  and  two  of  grass,  the 
field  becomes  worthless  and  is  allowed  to  grow  up  to  weeds  and 
bushes.  Corn  is  the  main  crop  and  the  basis  of  subsistence,  but 
rye,  oats,  and  a  little  wheat  in  the  valleys  are  raised.  Grain  is 
thrashed  with  a  flail  on  bare  ground  and  winnowed  by  pouring 
from  a  height  where  there  is  a  breeze.  The  mills  run  by  water 
power  are  very  small,  grinding  a  few  bushels  a  day,  and  hand  mills 
are  still  in  use.  Fruit  trees  are  generally  neglected,  although  the 
country  is  naturally  a  good  fruit  region.  Cabbages,  beans,  pota- 
toes, and  tobacco  are  raised. 

High  on  the  mountains  are  "balds,"  or  open,  grassy  tracts, 
where  cattle  can  forage  eight  or  nine  months  in  the  year,  but 
milk,  butter,  and  beef  are  scarce  and  of  poor  quality.  There  is 
no  way  to  keep  fresh  meat  and  the  cattle  are  driven  to  market 
and  sold.  A  few  sheep  are  kept  for  wool,  but  they  are  too 
delicate  and  defenseless  to  flourish  in  such  a  country.  The  fowls 
are  thin  and  tough,  and  are  poor  layers.  The  people  have  no 
taste  for  dairy  products  or  eggs,  and  depend  upon  "  corn  bread 
and  sowbelly,"  the  latter  obtained  from  the  "  razor-back  "  hogs. 
The  cooking  is  usually  bad  from  lack  of  skill  as  well  as  of 
material  and  utensils.  Maple  sugar  and  sorghum  molasses  are 
semi-luxuries.  Ginseng,  bloodroot,  wild  ginger,  and  other 
medicinal  plants  are   collected   and  sold,   also  galax,  hemlock, 


42  ECONOMIC    RICLATIONS 

and  mistletoe  for  Christmas  decorations.     Ginseng  is  the  most 
profitable  and  is  cultivated  to  some  extent. 

Whisky  is  made  from  corn  in  small  stills  concealed  in  the  forest  to  escape 
the  tax  imposed  by  the  United  States  government.  A  man  who  carries 
on  this  unlawful  business  is  called  a  "  moonshiner,"  and  the  product  "  moon- 
shine whisky."  The  efforts  of  revenue  ofliccrs  to  suppress  illicit  distilling 
have  led  to  much  hostility  and  bloodshed.  "  Aloonshining  "  is  a  direct 
result  of  natural  conditions.  No  other  crop  can  be  raised  so  well  as  corn, 
and  it  costs  more  to  get  corn  to  market  than  it  will  sell  for,  while  whisky 
made  and  sold  without  tax  brings  considerable  profit. 

Clothing  was  formerly  made  of  linsey-woolsey,  a  mixture  of 
linen  and  wool,  grown,  spun,  and  woven  at  home,  but  cheap, 
ready-made  clothing  from  the  outside  has  caused  a  decline  in 
the  home  industry.  The  women  still  weave  counterpanes  of 
quaint  and  pleasing  patterns,  their  only  artistic  handiwork,  for 
which  they  find  a  ready  sale  among  the  "  furriners  "  beyond  the 
mountains.  During  the  fall  and  early  winter  the  men  cut  logs, 
railroad  ties,  and  stave  bolts,  which  at  the  "  tide,"  or  high 
water  of  spring,  are  floated  down  the  streams  to  the  railroad. 
They  take  pay  for  the  timber  in  goods  from  stores  estabhshed  by 
outside  lumber  companies. 

These  highlanders  are  cut  ofJ  not  only  from  the  outside  world  but  from 
one  another.  They  are  almost  as  rooted  to  their  homes  as  the  trees,  and 
many  of  the  women  have  never  been  ten  miles  away  from  their  birthplace. 
The  houses  are  strung  along  the  streams  and  such  a  linear  neighborhood 
of  twenty  families  must  extend  at  least  ten  miles.  The  roads  are  under 
water  half  the  year.  The  people  cannot  get  together  to  support  good 
schools  or  churches,  and  social  life  and  cooperation  for  any  purpose  are 
greatly  restricted.  The  people  of  one  valley  are  sometimes  the  hereditary 
enemies  of  those  in  the  next.  In  more  than  half  the  counties  there  is  no 
town  of  looo  inhabitants,  and  in  many  counties  there  is  no  printing  press. 
Some  of  the  homes  cannot  be  reached  by  a  wagon,  and  many  of  them  are  far 
from  neighbors,  post  office,  school,  church,  or  store.  In  one  representative 
community  of  88  families,  the  average  size  of  the  farms  was  twenty-seven 
acres,  of  which  only  eight  acres  were  cultivated,  and  the  total  average 
value  of  farm  products  for  the  year  was  $i6o. 


SIMi'MO    K(X)N()MIi;s  43 

These  people  arc  of  the  purest  Anglo-Saxon  stock  in  the  United 
States,  unmixed  with  foreign  or  inferior  blood,  and  under  favor- 
able conditions  would  be  the  equals  of  the  best  Americans. 
Their  development  has  been  arrested  and  they  have  been  kept 
in  a  primitive  condition,  because  they  are  isolated  from  the 
rest  of  the  world  and  from  one  another,  and  are  condemned  to 
poverty  by  the  rugged  relief  of  their  natural  environment. 
Nature  holds  them  as  in  a  vice,  and  refuses  them  a  share  in  the 
general  progress  of  their  country.  The  real  wealth  of  the  high- 
land in  timber,  coal,  oil,  and  water  power  cannot  be  utilized 
without  knowledge,  capital,  and  cooperation  beyond  their  reach. 

To  the  inhabitants  of  more  favored  lands,  it  seems  marvel- 
ous that  3,000,000  of  their  own  kinsmen  can  succeed  in 
maintaining  themselves  in  such  an  environment.  They  are  il- 
literate and  intolerant  of  new  things,  but  simple,  direct,  honest, 
fearless,  hospitable,  and  intensely  loyal,  as  was  amply  shown 
during  the  Civil  War.  They  are  an  instructive  survival  from 
the  days  when  the  whole  country  was  new,  and  show  how  the 
pioneers  of  every  state  east  of  the  Mississippi  had  to  live,  each 
family  or  community  providing  for  its  own  simple  wants  without 
depending  upon  commerce,  domestic  or  foreign. 

Simple  Economies  —  Conclusions.  —  These  stories  of  simple 
economies  practiced  in  different  environments  show  what  can  be 
done  by  people  who  depend  upon  their  home  resources.  In 
each  case  they  have  successfully  adapted  themselves  to  the 
conditions  in  which  they  were  born,  and  make  the  best  living  pos- 
sible as  long  as  they  supply  their  own  wants  and  obtain  little  or 
nothing  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  They  are  prevented  from 
making  a  better  living  by  lack  of  material  and  lack  of  knowledge. 
A  steel  ax  would  help  the  Yahgans  to  build  better  boats  and 
houses.  They  have  iron  ore,  and  wood  for  fuel,  but  have  no 
idea  how  to  use  them  to  extract  the  metal.  There  is  good  coal 
in  Greenland,  but  it  is  of  no  more  use  to  the  Eskimos  than  any 
other  rock.     Firearms  would  be  of  advantage  in  killing  seals, 


44  FXONOMIC    RICLATIONS 

bears,  caribou,  and  musk  oxen,  but  their  introduction  Ijy  white 
men  threatens  to  kill  off  these  animals  so  rapidly  that  the  native 
basis  of  subsistence  will  be  destroyed  and  the  Eskimos  will  perish 
of  famine.  The  use  of  wooden  houses,  coal  stoves,  and  woolen 
clothing  on  the  Arctic  shores  of  Alaska  has  not  improved  the  health 
or  happiness  of  the  natives.  In  the  i)olar  regions  there  are  not 
enough  sunlight  and  heat  to  make  i)lants  grow,  and  without 
vegetation  it  is  impossible  for  human  life  to  be  much  more  than 
a  bare  struggle  for  existence. 

The  South  Sea  Islands  are  small  patches  of  land  surrounded 
by  a  wide  expanse  of  water,  and  lack  variety  of  resources  and 
people.  The  absence  of  all  metals  is  a  serious  defect.  In  the 
Pueblo  environment  the  greatest  need  is  water,  without  which 
only  a  scant  vegetation  is  possible  and  animal  and  human  life 
is  correspondingly  meager.  In  the  Amazon  forests  men  are 
overwhelmed  and  suppressed  by  the  abundance  and  luxury  of 
nature.  On  the  steppes  there  is  but  one  resource,  pasture  grass, 
and  men  are  compelled  to  move  about  to  find  it.  They  cannot 
make  use  of  the  common  appliances  of  civilized  life  because  they 
cannot  carry  them.  In  the  Appalachians  the  crust  of  the  earth 
is  at  fault.  The  soil  is  poor  and  the  surface  so  rough  that  there 
is  little  available  land.  Only  a  scant  population  can  make  a 
living  by  agriculture.  The  people  have  little  use  for  timber, 
coal,  and  oil  at  home.  Their  only  chance  to  improve  conditions 
must  come  from  the  employment  of  outside  capital  to  exploit 
these  resources.  For  this  purpose  railroads  are  essential,  and 
would  break  up  in  some  degree  their  isolation  and  bring  them 
under  the  economic  influence  of  their  lowland  neighbors.  But 
these  highlands  must  always  remain  the  home  of  a  relatively 
poor  and  primitive  people. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  is  meant  by  economic  relations? 

2.  How  have  the  differences  between  limpets  and  seals  affected  the  habits 
and  character  of  the  Yahgans  and  Eskimos  ? 


QUESTIONS  45 

3.  What  is  the  most  important  contrast  between  the  environment  of  the 
Eskimos  and  that  of  the  South  Sea  Islanders?  between  the  environment 
of  the  Pueblo  Indians  and  that  of  the  Amazon  peoples? 

4.  Which  tends  to  breed  better  men,  extreme  heat  or  extreme  cold? 
extreme  dryness  or  extreme  moisture? 

5.  Which  is  the  more  favorable  home  for  civilized  people,  the  steppes 
or  the  mountains?     Why? 

6.  In  which  of  the  environments  described  in  this  chapter  would  you 
prefer  to  live?     Why? 

7.  Among  the  peoples  described  in  this  chapter  what  are  the  necessaries 
of  life?  the  comforts?  the  luxuries? 

8.  What  is  the  one  thing  indispensable  for  the  maintenance  of  human  life 
anywhere  ? 

9.  Is  clothing  a  necessity  or  a  luxury? 

10.  Which  peoples  build  shelter  for  protection  against  cold?  rain?  ani- 
mals?  human  enemies? 

11.  Which  peoples  live  largely  on  vegetable  food?  on  animal  food? 
on  a  mixed  diet  ? 

12.  Why  are  fish  so  commonly  used  by  people  who  practice  a  simple 
economy?     What  kind  of  food  do  fishes  live  on? 


CHAPTER    III 
THE   STUDY   OF   HOME   ECONOMIES 

The  simple  relations  shown  in  the  preceding  chapter  as  existing 
between  various  peoples  and  their  environments  may  help  the 
student  to  understanfl  the  more  complex  relations  of  his  own 
community.  A  study  of  the  home  economies  by  which  his 
own  family  and  their  neighbors  get  a  living  should  now  be 
undertaken.  These  furnish  a  wide  field  for  original  investigation 
which  should  be  continued  throughout  the  term  or  year  according 
to  convenience.  Studies  in  the  field  and  in  the  text  should 
usually  be  carried  on  together  and  will  be  found  to  enliven  and 
enlighten  each  other. 

It  is  impossible  in  a  textbook  for  general  use  to  give  detailed 
directions  that  will  cover  the  ground  in  every  locality.  The 
following  outline  will  apply  to  most  communities  in  the  United 
States,  but  should  be  adapted  to  meet  the  needs  of  each  class. 
To  devote  about  half  the  time  to  this  work  while  the  other  half 
is  given  to  Chapters  IV-VIII  of  the  text  will  prove  an  agreeable 
and  stimulating  change.  Different  topics  of  the  Outline  may  be 
assigned  to  individual  pupils  for  investigation  and  report. 

OUTLINE   FOR  A   STUDY  OF   HOME   ECONOMIES 

I.  Gainful  Occupations.  What  are  the  people  doing  for  a  living? 
Make  a  list  of  the  different  kinds  of  work  or  business  carried  on  for  gain  or 
profit.     These  may  be  classified  as  follows : 

A.  Agriculture,  general  farming,  special  crops,  gardening,  fruit  growing, 
dairying,  stock  raising,  poultry  keeping,  etc. 

B.  Lumbering,  cutting  and  sawing  timber,  ties,  etc. 

C.  Mining  and  Quarrying,  mining  coal,  ore,  oil,  gas,  and  other  minerals, 
quarrying  stone,  excavating  clay,  sand,  or  gravel. 

46 


CLOTHING  47 

D.  Hunting  and  Trapping  land  animals. 

E.  Fishing,  capturing  aquatic  animals. 

F.  Manufacture,  i.  Foodstuffs.  2.  Textiles  and  leather.  3.  Clothing, 
shoes,  gloves,  hats,  etc.  4.  Building  materials,  lumber,  brick,  lime,  cement, 
glass,  etc.  5.  Furniture,  household  goods,  crockery,  etc.  6.  Iron  and 
steel,  rails,  engines,  machines,  tools,  etc.  7.  Other  metals,  copper,  lead, 
zinc,  tin,  gold,  silver,  plated  ware,  jewelry,  etc.  8.  Vehicles,  ships,  cars, 
wagons,  motors,  etc.  g.  Chemicals,  medicines,  liquors,  etc.  10.  Tobacco. 
II.  Paper,  printing,  and  publishing.     12.  Other  manufactures. 

G.  Communication,  post  office,  telegraph,  telephone. 

H.  Transportation  by  water,  rail,  wagon,  etc.,  of  passengers  and 
goods. 

I.  Commerce,  buying  and  selling  goods,  wholesale  and  retail. 
J.   Finance,  banking,  brokerage,  etc. 

K.  Professional  Service,  engineering,  army,  navy,  medicine,  law,  religion, 
education,  drama,  art,  music,  journalism,  literature,  etc. 

L.  Domestic  and  Personal  Service,  cooking,  housekeeping,  table  wait- 
ing, laimdering,  barbering,  etc. 

M.  Skilled  Labor,  constructive  trades  and  handicrafts,  mason,  brick 
layer,  carpenter,  structural  iron  worker,  painter,  paperer,  plumber,  tinner, 
builder,  contractor,  steam  engineer,  potter,  machinist,  blacksmith,  and 
other  occupations  not  included  in  F. 

N.   Common  Unskilled  Labor. 

Which  of  these  occupations  are  followed  in  the  community?  WTiat 
proportion  of  the  population  is  engaged  in  each  ?  What  conditions,  natural 
and  human,  make  these  occupations  profitable  in  this  locality? 

II.  Food.  What  do  the  people  eat  and  drink?  A  list  of  the  principal 
articles  of  food  used  in  the  community:  i.  Cereals  and  breadstuflfs. 
2.  Meats  and  fish.  3.  Dairy  products.  4.  Vegetables.  5.  Fruits.  6.  Fla- 
vors and  condiments.  7.  Luxuries  and  delicacies.  8.  Liquors.  9.  Water 
supply.  Where  do  the  articles  come  from  ?  How  are  they  produced  ? 
How  are  they  prepared  for  the  table  ?  How  are  they  transported  from  the 
place  of  production  and  distributed  to  consumers?  What  proportion  is 
home  grown?     What  proportion  is  imported  from  foreign  countries? 

III.  Clothing.  What  do  the  people  wear?  A  list  of  materials  and 
articles  used  for  clothing:  i.  Textiles,  cotton,  woolen,  linen,  silk,  straw, 
etc.  2.  Leather.  3.  Rubber.  4.  Furs.  5.  Ornaments,  jewelry,  feathers, 
etc.  Where  do  these  articles  come  from?  How  are  they  made?  How 
are  they  transported  and  distributed?  What  are  the  proportions  of 
domestic  and  foreign  goods  ? 


48  Tin:    STUDY   OF   HOME   TCONOIMTES 

IV.  Housing.  How  arc  the  pcopk-  housed?  .\  list  of  materials  used  in 
construction:  i.  Wood  (kinds).  2.  .Stone  (kinds).  .;.  Brick.  4.  Iron 
and  other  inelais.  5.  Cement  and  i)laster.  6.  Olher  materials.  Where 
do  these  materials  come  from?  How  are  they  made?  How  arc  they 
transported  ?  I'or  what  i)arl  of  the  building  is  each  used?  Why?  A  good 
house  or  other  building  should  be  observed  while  under  construction. 
What  materials  are  used  for  public  buildings?  for  business  buildings? 
for  the  best  residences?  What  are  the  proportions  of  best,  good,  and 
cheap  residences  in  the  town  or  city?  Why  are  the  best  residences  located 
where  they  are?     the  good  residences?     the  cheap  residences? 

V.  Household  Equipment.  How  are  the  houses  furnished  for  conven- 
ience, comfort,  and  beauty?  A  list  of  articles  of  furniture  and  house- 
hold goods:  I.  Furniture.  2.  Carpets.  3.  Bedding.  4.  Tableware. 
5.  Cooking  utensils.  6.  Wall  paper.  7.  Paint.  S.  Hangings,  g.  Pic- 
tures. What  fuels  are  used  for  heating  and  lighting?  Where  do  they 
come  from  ? 

VI.  Manufactures.  What  manufacturing  industries  are  carried  on? 
A  list  is  given  in  1,  F.  What  are  the  sources  of  power  used  in  each  ?  Where 
do  the  raw  materials  come  from  ?  Where  are  the  products  marketed  ? 
What  is  the  annual  value  of  the  products?  How  much  capital  is  invested? 
How  many  people  are  employed  ?  How  much  is  paid  out  annually  in  wages  ? 
Why  is  the  industry  located  where  it  is?  Why  is  the  manufacturing  dis- 
trict of  the  town  located  where  it  is? 

VII.  Transportation.  How  are  people  and  goods  moved?  A  list  of 
means  of  transportation:  i.  Waterways.  2.  Railroads.  3.  Wagon  roads. 
4.  Trails.  What  kinds  and  sizes  of  boats  are  used?  What  places,  regions, 
or  countries  do  they  reach?  What  kinds  of  freight  are  carried?  What 
is  the  average  cost  of  carrying  one  ton  one  mile?  What  are  the  annual 
tonnage  and  value  of  goods  carried?  How  many  passengers  are  carried 
annually?  What  steam  railroads  serve  the  community?  what  electric 
railroads?  What  regions  or  places  do  they  connect?  How  many  trains 
are  run  each  day?  What  kinds  of  freight  are  carried  each  way?  What 
are  the  freight  rates  per  ton-mile?  How  many  carloads  of  freight  are  re- 
ceived and  sent  out  annually  ?  What  raw  materials  are  brought  in  ?  What 
finished  products  are  shipped  out  ?  Do  all  the  railroads  carry  the  same 
kinds  of  freight?  if  not,  why  not?  Why  are  the  passenger  depots  and 
freight  houses  and  yards  located  where  they  are?  How  many  passengers 
are  carried?  Of  what  are  the  wagon  roads  and  principal  bridges  con- 
structed? Why  is  there  much  travel  on  some  and  little  on  others?  At 
some  point  on  a  main  thoroughfare  note  the  number  and  kind  of  vehicles 


COMMERCE  49 

which  pass  each  way  and  the  contents  of  the  loaded  wagons.     Count  the 
people  who  pass,  riding  or  walking. 

VIII.  Commerce.  In  what  lines  of  commerce  are  the  people  engaged? 
A  list  of  commercial  houses,  wholesale  and  retail,  in  a  city  may  be  found  in 
the  City  Directory  or  Telephone  Directory.  Why  are  the  wholesale  houses 
located  where  they  are?  What  is  the  value  of  the  goods,  foreign  and  do- 
mestic, received  by  them?  Over  what  territory  are  they  distributed? 
What  kind  of  retail  store  is  most  numerous  and  widely  distributed? 
Why?  What  kinds  of  retail  stores  are  few  in  number  and  confined  to  the 
business  district  ?  Why  ?  Why  is  the  retail  shopping  district  located  where 
it  is? 


ELEM.   ECON.   GEOG.  —  4 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE   NATURAL  FOUNDATIONS   OF   HUMAN  ECONOMY 

Nearly  three  fourths  of  the  earth  crust  is  covered  by  water  in 
which  there  is  abundant  life  but  no  foundation  upon  which  to 
maintain  a  home  for  men.  One  half  the  land  area  is  either  cold 
desert  or  warm  desert,  and  almost  uninhabited. 

To  create  an  environment  favorable  for  the  existence  of 
human  life  on  any  large  scale  and  with  a  fairly  high  standard 
of  living,  many  conditions  are  essential : 

1.  There  must  be  solid  ground  and  space  to  stand,  live,  and  work  upon, 
without  overcrowding.  The  area  and  distribution  of  land  arc  determined 
by  the  relief  of  the  earth  crust. 

2.  The  ground  must  be  covered  with  a  plentiful  but  not  too  luxuriant 
growth  of  vegetation,  in  which  both  herbs  and  trees,  grass  and  forest, 
play  an  important  part.  This  requires  a  good  soil  and  a  moderate  rainfall 
with  sunshine  and  mild  temperature  during  one  half  the  year  or  more. 
This  is  the  only  source  upon  which  a  sufficient  and  constant  supply  of  food, 
clothing,  and  materials  for  implements  and  shelter  can  be  maintained. 

3.  There  must  be  fresh  water  on  or  near  the  surface  for  the  use  of  animals 
and  men. 

4.  The  earth  crust  must  contain  available  minerals,  such  as  coal,  clay, 
stone,  and  ores  of  iron  and  other  metals. 

5.  The  surface  of  the  land  must  be  smooth  and  level  enough  to  be  easily 
cultivated  and  to  permit  the  movement  and  circulation  of  people  and  prod- 
ucts. The  most  favored  lands  are  bordered  by  the  sea  and  have  access  by 
water  to  all  parts  of  the  world. 

6.  There  must  be  some  sources  of  power  superior  to  human  muscle  to 
do  a  large  part  of  the  work.  This  may  be  obtained  from  animals,  from  the 
wind,  from  streams,  and  from  burning  fuel,  such  as  wood,  coal,  oil,  or  gas. 

People  living  in  an  environment  in  which  one  or  more  of  these 
things  are  lacking  labor  under  a   corresponding   disadvantage. 

50 


PLANTS    LIVK    I.AKCilCLY   ON   AIR  51 

The  most  prosperous  people  are  those  Hving  where  all  of  them 
exist  in  the  highest  degree. 

Vegetation  an  Index  of  Economic  Value.  — -  In  any  country 
the  coat  of  vegetation  on  the  ground  reveals  the  economic  life 
which  exists  or  is  possible  there  as  accurately  as  people's  clothes 
reveal  their  occupation  and  social  standing.  Plants  supply  so 
many  human  wants  that  wherever  they  grow  in  sufficient  abun- 
dance and  variety  other  resources  may  be  almost  dispensed  with. 
The  growth  of  a  favorable  flora  implies  the  existence  of  fertile 
plains,  sunshine,  heat,  water,  streams,  and  useful  animals. 
Vegetation  is  so  intimately  related  to  human  life  on  the  one  hand 
and  to  natural  forces  on  the  other  that  it  furnishes  a  convenient 
standard  by  which  to  estimate  human  environments  and  to 
grade  economic  regions. 

Plants  Require  Soil.  —  Mosl  plants  are  anchored  to  one  spot  by  their 
roots  which  spread  out  through  a  large  mass  of  soil.  The  soil  is  composed  of 
clay,  sand,  and  gravel  —  a  sort  of  rock  flour  or  meal,  formed  by  the  crumbling 
and  decay  of  solid  rocks.  It  generally  contains  humus  or  decaying  vege- 
table matter,  which  gives  it  a  dark  color.  Productive  soil  must  be  moist 
and  able  to  hold  a  large  quantity  of  water  which  clings  as  a  thin  film  to  the 
surface  of  the  particles.  This  film  water  holds  in  solution  salts  of  nitrogen, 
potash,  phosphorus,  lime,  and  other  elements  which  the  plants  must  have 
for  food.  In  order  to  get  enough  of  these  salts,  the  rootlets  absorb  great 
quantities  of  soil  water,  which  passes  up  through  the  stem  and  mostly 
evaporates  from  the  leaves.  The  water  or  sap  in  plants  takes  the  place  of 
blood  in  animals,  carrying  food  to  all  the  tissues.  When  there  is  not  enough 
water  to  keep  the  cells  full  and  swollen,  the  plant  wilts  and  perhaps  dies. 

Plants  Live  Largely  on  Air.  —  By  means  of  their  leaves  most  plants 
expose  a  large  surface  to  the  air  and  sunlight.  The  leaves  absorb  oxygen 
and  carbon  dioxide  from  the  air,  and  when  the  sun  shines  the  green  substance 
in  the  leaves  combines  the  gases  from  the  air  with  the  water  and  salts  from 
the  soil,  and  manufactures  from  them  starch,  sugar,  fiber,  and  other  tissues 
of  the  plant.  Thus,  sunlight  acting  upon  green  matter  in  plants  makes  the 
plant  grow  and  converts  air,  water,  and  soil  into  food  for  animals  and  men. 
This  process  cannot  go  on  unless  the  temperature  is  well  above  freezing, 
and  is  more  active  at  higher  temperatures  up  to  100°  or  more.  Some  plants 
manage  to  grow  a  little  and  produce  seed  in  a  few  weeks  of  cool,  cloudy 


52        THE    NATURAL    lOrXDATIOXS   OF    Hl'.MAX    KCOXOMV 

weather,  l)ut  iiiosl  plants  require  se\eral  months  of  warmth  and  sunshine. 
The  most  luxuriant  vegetation  is  found  near  the  equator  where  it  is  hoi  and 
wet  all  the  year  around,  as  in  the  Amazon  forest  (p.  27).  In  warm  deserts 
the  sunlight  and  heat  may  be  intense,  yet  the  vegetation  is  scanty  and 
stunted  because  there  is  little  or  no  water  in  the  soil. 

Plants  Adapted  to  Air  and  Soil.  'i1ic  numl)er  of  different 
kinds  of  pkinls  in  the  world  is  enormous.  About  150,000  species 
have  been  described  and  named  by  botanists.  These  species 
are  adapted  to  different  conditions  of  air  and  soil  in  an  almost 
endless  variety  of  ways.  In  a  lawn,  meadow,  garden,  or  field 
only  one  or  a  few  species  may  be  found  because  all  others  are 
artificially  kept  out.  But  even  in  small  patches  of  natural  vege- 
tation there  are  generally  many  kinds  differing  widely  in  form, 
size,  and  habit,  but  all  adapted  in  one  way  or  another  to  the 
same  environment.  Such  groups  are  called  plant  societies  or  for- 
mations, and  resemble  communities  of  people  who  live  under  the 
same  general  conditions,  but  get  their  living  in  different  ways. 

The  land  surface  may  be  divided  according  to  its  vegetative 
covering  into  woodland,  grassland,  and  desert : 


Fig.  14.  —  Grassland,  a  western  prairie. 


PLANTS   ADAPTP:D    TO   AIR   AND    SOIL 


53 


I.  Woodland  is  occupied  by  trees,  shrubs,  and  woody  plants 
which  persist  and  grow  year  after  year,  and  are  close  enough 
together  to  shade  the  ground  and  exclude  most  other  plants. 
Trees  are  deep-rooted  and  do  not  depend  on  frequent  rains  or  a 
rainy  growing  season,  but  may  flourish  wherever  their  roots  can 
reach  down  to  water.     Thus  they  may  endure  long  seasons  of 


Fig.  15. — Vegetation  along  a  dry  watercourse  in  the  desert,  Arizona. 


drought  and  intense  cold.  They  require  a  moist  subsoil  and  a 
warm  growing  season,  and  suffer  from  dry  winds  in  winter  when 
the  ground  is  frozen. 

2.  Grassland  (Fig.  14)  is  covered  with  low,  soft,  herbaceous 
plants  among  which  grasses  predominate.  They  are  shallow- 
rooted  and  their  growth  is  dependent  upon  a  moist  surface  soil. 
They  require  frequent  rains  during  the  growing  season.  In  many 
species  the  conspicuous  parts  of  the  plant  die  every  year,  after 
producing  seeds,  bulbs,  tubers,  or  some  other  organs,  which  can 
rest  over  a  season  of  drought  or  cold  and  start  new  plants  when 
conditions  are  favorable. 

3.  Deserts  (Fig.  15)  are  regions  which,  on  account  of  lack  of 
soil,  dryness  of  the  ground,  or  persistent  low  temperature,  are 


54        'nilO    N.VrilRAI,    lOlNDAI  lOXS    ()|-    III  MAX'    ICCONOMY 

very  unfav^orahlc  tor  vcf^clatioii  ol  any  kind.  Lar^c  tracts 
absoluU'K'  (lc\'()i(l  of  plant  life  are  rare,  hut  x'ej^etation  is  stunted 
and  scattered,  leaving  much  of  the  ground  bare.  In  adapting 
themselves  to  hard  conditions,  desert  plants  have  become  very 
odd  and  peculiar  (Fig.  20). 

Summary.  — ■  Human  life  is  so  far  dependent  ui)on  i)hints 
that  the  natural  vegetation  of  any  region  is  an  index  of  its 
value  for  human  economy.  Plants  are  distributed  over  the  land 
in  zones  corresponding  to  the  length  and  temperature  of  the  grow- 
ing season,  and  the  zones  are  broken  up  into  regions  according 
to  the  amount  and  season  of  rainfall.  In  short,  vegetation  is 
controlled  by  climate,  and  plant  zones  and  regions  correspond 
closely  to  climatic  zones  and  regions.     (See  Fig.  18.) 

QUESTIONS 

1.  There  are  thousands  of  sailors  who  spend  most  of  their  lives  on  the 
sea.     How  are  they  dependent  on  the  land? 

2.  What  changes  in  the  earth  crust  or  in  the  sea  would  increase  the  area 
of  the  land?  decrease  it? 

3.  Could  men  live  without  using  solid  minerals?  What  kind  of  living 
would  they  get  ? 

4.  What  are  the  advantages  of  hving  near  the  sea? 

5.  How  do  clay,  sand,  and  gravel  differ?  Which  can  hold  the  most 
water? 

6.  Are  the  ashes  left  after  wood  is  burned  derived  from  the  soil  or  the 
air?     What  proportion  of  the  weight  of  wood  is  derived  from  the  air? 

7.  Do  plants  take  in  more  food  at  night  or  in  the  daytime?  In  which 
do  they  grow  faster? 

8.  Count  the  number  of  kinds  of  plants  growing  in  a  space  10  feet  square 
in  a  field  and  100  feet  square  in  a  forest.  How  many  kinds  of  plants  grow 
in  your  county  or  state? 

9.  How  do  the  plants  growing  in  a  marsh  or  swamp  differ  from  those 
growing  on  dry  land  ? 

10.  How  does  the  vegetation  on  a  sand  hill  differ  from  that  on  a  clay 
flat?    Why  do  they  differ? 


CHAPTER   V 
PLANT    REGIONS   AND    RESOURCES 

The  economic  conditions  and  possibilities  for  human  life  in 
any  region  are  dependent  primarily  upon  its  vegetation.  The 
general  character  of  vegetation  varies  with  the  climate.  Dif- 
ferences of  temperature,  sunshine,  and  rainfall  determine  what 
kinds  of  plants  may  exist  or  flourish.  Hence,  climate,  vegeta- 
tion, and  human  economy  are  bound  up  together  so  closely  that 
cKmatic  regions,  plant  regions,  and  economic  regions  are  broadly 
identical.  They  may  be  described  together  and  named  from 
their  characteristic  vegetation,  which  is  a  conspicuous  feature 
in  all  lands.  It  attracts  the  attention  of  every  traveler  and  is 
easily  understood  from  pictures  and  descriptions. 

Zones  of  Temperature.  —  The  plant  regions  of  the  earth  may 
be  arranged  in  nine  heat  belts  or  zones  of  temperature,  one  along 
the  equator  and  four  on  each  side  of  the  equatorial  zone  (Fig.  17) : 

1.  The  Polar  Caps. 

2.  The  Cold  Temperate  Zones. 

»     3.   The  Temperate  (so-called)  or  Intermediate  Zones. 

4.  The  Subtropical  or  Warm  Temperate  Zones. 

5.  The  Equatorial  or  Intertropical  Zone. 

In  mapping  and  describing  temperature  zones,  all  statements  about  tem- 
peratures apply  strictly  to  lands  near  sea  level.  Elevation  transfers  any 
particular  region  from  the  zone  proper  to  its  latitude  to  some  zone  nearer 
the  pole.  The  tops  of  the  highest  mountains  near  the  equator  have  a 
climate  like  that  of  the  polar  caps. 

The  vegetation  in  each  zone  is  controlled  more  by  the  temperature  and 
duration  of  the  growing  season  and  the  amount  and  season  of  rainfall  than 
by  all  other  conditions. 

55 


56  PLANT    RIXIIONS    AND    Ri:S(JURCKS 

The  Polar  Caps.  -The  jjolar  caps  surround  the  north  and 
south  poles  and  extend  in  some  phices  beyond  the  j)ohir  circles 
(Fig.  17).  The  average  temperature  of  the  warmest  month 
does  not  exceed  50°,  and  the  precipitation,  mostly  in  the  form  of 
snow,  rarely  equals  ten  inches  of  rainfall  for  the  year.  The 
winter  is  a  period  of  eight  or  nine  months,  during  a  part  of  which 
the  sun  does  not  rise  at  all,  and  at  no  time  rises  far  above  the 
horizon.  In  summer  either  the  sun  does  not  set  at  all  for  weeks 
or  months,  or  the  days  are  nearly  twenty-four  hours  long.  In 
spite  of  this,  the  sun's  rays  are  so  slanting,  and  there  is  so  much 
snow  and  ice  on  the  ground  that  the  growing  season  is  short, 
foggy,  and  cold. 

Ice  Desert  and  Tundra.  —  The  plateaus  of  Greenland  and 
Antarctica  are  covered  with  a  cap  of  ice  and  snow  more  unfavor- 
able to  vegetation  than  bare  granite  (Fig.  18). 

The  polar  lowland  is  generally  a  treeless  moor,  called  tundra. 
The  subsoil  is  permanently  frozen,  and  when  the  surface  thaws 
in  summer  the  drainage  is  very  poor  and  the  ground  marshy. 
The  hollows  are  occupied  by  patches  of  moss  and  the  rocky  pro- 
jections are  covered  with  lichens.  In  some  places  there  are 
clumps  and  tussocks  of  coarse  grass,  and  dense,  cushion-like 
masses  of  stunted  willow,  birch,  and  alder.  The  mosses  and 
lichens  do  not  die  in  winter,  and  there  is  food  all  the  year  around 
for  reindeer,  caribou,  and  musk  oxen. 

The  tundra  of  the  polar  lowlands  and  native  economy  in  the  polar  caps 
have  been  described  on  pages  1 7-19.  The  commercial  resources  of  the  region 
are  derived  from  the  sea.  There  are  five  or  six  species  of  seals  whose  fur 
and  fat  find  a  market  in  civDized  countries.  Whaling  vessels  go  every 
season  to  arctic  and  antarctic  waters  and  bring  back  cargoes  of  whalebone 
(worth  $10,000  a  ton)  and  whale  oil.  The  world  would  not  suffer  seriously 
if  there  were  no  polar  caps,  yet  they  supply  whalebone  and  sealskin  for 
which  there  is  no  good  substitute. 

The  Cold  Temperate  Zones.  —  The  polar  cap  in  each  hemi- 
sphere is  surrounded  by  a  cold  temperate  zone,  which  has  a 


CONIFEROUS   FORESTS 


57 


temperate  season  and  a  cold  season.  On  the  polar  side  the  cold 
season  is  the  longer,  and  on  the  equatorial  side  the  temperate 
season  is  the  longer.  Inhere  is  no  hot  season,  the  temperature  of 
the  warmest  month  being  below  70°.  The  growing  season  lasts 
less  than  half  the  year.  Except  on  lands  exposed  to  west  winds 
from  the  ocean,  the 
rainfall  is  less  than 
twenty  inches. 

Coniferous  Forests. 
—  The  American  and 
Eurasian  tundras  are 
bounded  on  the  south 
by  a  wide  belt  of 
forest,  which  extends 
right  across  both  con- 
tinents (Fig.  18).  It 
is  composed  almost  ex- 
clusively of  trees  hav- 
ing leathery,  needle 
or  scale  shaped  leaves, 
which  with  few  excep- 
tions are  evergreen, 
like  the  pine,  fir, 
spruce,  cedar,  and 
larch  (Fig.  16).  The 
fruit     of     such    trees 

is  a  scaly   cone  holding  the  seeds  between  the   scales,   hence 
such  trees  and  forests  are  called  coniferous. 


Pine  forest,  Minnesota. 


The  small  surface  and  thick  skin  of  the  leaves  restrict  the  evaporation 
of  water  when  the  ground  is  frozen  dry.  The  straight  central  trunk  and 
short  branches  toward  the  top  enable  the  trees  to  stand  against  strong 
winds.  The  narrow,  drooping,  slippery  foliage  permits  the  snow  to  slide 
off.  Hence,  coniferous  trees  are  adapted  to  regions  where  the  winters  are 
very  cold,  and  the  rainfall  and  evaporation  scanty.     The  snow,  which  begins 


Figure  17.  MEA 

After  J 


NNUAL  RAINFALL 

■brrlaon 


''^/((/aVs  c'^^^;;:^^^ 


10  to  20  in. 
Less  than  10  in. 


59 


6o  PLANT    RKCIONS    AND    RKSOURCES 

to  fall  in  aulunin,  accumulates  without  melting  and  becomes  very  deep 
before  spring.  Thus  the  roots  are  protected  and  the  trees  are  enabled  to 
survive  the  coldest  weather  known  on  earth.  The  soil  is  generally  poor  and 
in  North  America  largely  of  glacial  origin.  The  .Siberian  forest  extends 
southward  into  that  part  of  the  tcm[)erale  zone  which  has  cold  winters, 
and  westward  across  norlhcru  Europe  where  the  rainfall  is  below  twenty 
inches. 

In  coniferous  forests  animals  find  shelter  and  winter  food. 
The  bison,  caribou,  deer,  and  moose  are  permanent  inhabitants, 
or  winter  visitors,  Kving  on  twigs  and  leaves.  The  fox,  mink, 
marten,  otter,  ermine,  squirrel,  hare,  muskrat,  and  formerly 
the  beaver,  occur  in  great  numbers.  They  can  endure  the 
climate  only  when  protected  by  a  dense  coat  of  fur.  Conse- 
quently the  hnest  furs  come  from  Siberia,  Canada,  and  Alaska. 

Outside  the  cold  temperate  zones,  coniferous  forests  occur  upon  moun- 
tains where  cold  temperate  conditions  prevail  and  on  some  dry,  sandy  soils 
in  temperate  regions. 

Most  of  the  timber  used  in  the  construction  of  houses  and  ships  and  in 
general  carpentry  is  obtained  from  coniferous  forests.  The  wood  is  soft, 
light,  strong,  and  lasting,  and  the  trees  are  so  large  that  timbers  and  boards 
may  be  cut  of  any  desired  dimensions. 

The  Temperate  or  Intermediate  Zones.  —  A  truly  tem- 
perate climate,  in  which  the  average  monthly  temperature  is 
never  below  50°  and  never  above  70°,  belongs  to  the  ocean  and 
scarcely  exists  on  land.  The  large  areas  of  land  in  this  zone  are 
temperate  only  in  spring  and  autumn,  while  the  winters  are  cold 
(below  50°)  and  the  summers  are  hot  (above  70°).  These  are 
the  only  regions  having  four  well-marked  seasons  and  they 
might  properly  be  called  "  intemperate."  The  growing  season 
includes  about  half  the  year. 

The  weather  in  the  intermediate  zones  is  more  variable  than 
anywhere  else  in  the  world.  This  is  due  to  a  constant  procession 
of  rotating  storms  (cyclones,  not  tornadoes)  which  sweep  across 
sea  and  land  from  west  to  east.     They  are  accompanied  by 


62  I'l.Wr    KI.CIOXS    AM)    RKSOURCKS 

relatively  warm,  daiiii),  cloudx ,  and  storm)-  weather  and  followed 
by  cool,  dr}',  clear  weather.  These  chan<j;es  occur  as  often  as 
twice  a  week,  and  are  most  marked  in  wintt-r.  Much  of  the 
activity  and  energy  which  characterize  the  inhabitants  of  these 
zones  is  probably  due  to  the  stimulation  of  frequent  changes  of 
temperature. 

The  vegetation  of  the  intermediate  zones  is  more  varied  than 
that  of  the  cold  temperate  zones  and  includes  both  forest  and 
grasslands,  distributed  according  to  the  amount  of  rainfall. 

The  Steppes.  —  The  coniferous  forest  of  Asia  and  eastern 
Europe  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  extensive  treeless  regions 
called  steppes,  where  grasses  flourish  during  the  moist  season. 
The  steppe  is  a  good  home  for  herbivorous  animals,  provided 
they  can  move  rapidly  from  dying  or  exhausted  pastures  to  fresh 
ones,  and  can  escape  from  their  enemies.  The  steppes  have 
been  for  ages  the  home  and  breeding  ground  of  the  hoofed 
animals  —  asses,  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  goats,  and  camels. 

Human  life  and  econoni}'  on  the  Eurasian  steppes  have  been 
described  on  pages  32-37. 

In  North  America,  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  a  belt  of  steppe  300 
to  500  miles  wide  extends  from  Texas  to  Alberta  (Figs.  18,  19).  It  was  origi- 
nally the  home  of  enormous  herds  of  bisons,  or  buffaloes,  which  have  been 
displaced  by  domestic  cattle,  imported  from  Europe  and  raised  for  meat 
and  hides,  and  by  sheep  for  wool. 

In  the  southern  hemisphere  the  pampas  of  Patagonia,  the  veldt  of  South 
Africa,  and  portions  of  the  interior  of  Australia  are  steppe  lands,  given  to 
the  raising  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  horses.  Steppe  lands  are  everywhere  being 
invaded  by  farmers,  who  grow  cereal  grains  by  irrigation  or  "  dry  farming  " 
methods.  Steady  streams  of  meat,  hides,  wool,  and  wheat  which  now  pour 
from  the  steppes  into  the  more  densely  populated  regions  have  taken  the 
place  of  the  swarms  of  rodents,  locusts,  and  wild  men  which  in  former 
times  overliowed  from  the  steppes  into  richer  agricultural  lands. 

Summer  Forest  and  Prairie.  —  Those  portions  of  the  temperate 
and  cold  temperate  zones  in  which  the  annual  rainfall  is  between 


SUMMER    FOREST   AND    r'RAIRIE  63 

20  and  60  inches  were  originally  occupied  by  summer  forest  and 
prairie  (Figs. 17,  18).     The  largest  of  these  areas  cover: 

1.  Eastern  North    America  south  of    the  Laurentian    lakes 
and  river. 

2.  Central  and  western  Europe,  including  central  and  south- 
ern Russia,   Germanv,  Austria,  France,  and  the  British  Isles. 


Fig.  ig.  —  Bunch-grass  steppe,  Nebraskii.     Nolict-  the  house  on  the  horizon.     (U.  S.  G.  S.) 

3.  Northern  China,  Manchuria,  Korea,  and  Japan.  In  cen- 
tral North  America,  southern  Russia,  and  northeast  Asia  there 
are  extensive  prairies,  or  lands  naturally  covered  with  a  dense, 
unbroken  carpet  of  grass  and  herbs,  with  belts  of  trees  along  the 
streams  occupying  not  more  than  twenty  per  cent  of  the  area. 
The  pampas  of  Argentina  are  grasslands  which  resemble  both 
steppes  and  prairie  and  are  used  for  either  cattle  raising  or 
grain  growing. 

The  summer  forests  are  moderately  dense  and  there  is  little  under- 
growth. The  trees  have  broad  leaves  in  summer  and  are  bare  in  winter. 
Oaks  and  beeches  are  most  numerous,  but  the  maple,  elm,  walnut,  chestnut, 


64  PLANT    RKGIONS   AND    RESOURCES 

hickory,  ash,  sycamore,  ijoplar,  liiulcM,  aiul  many  others  are  numerous  and 
of  large  size.  JMost  of  these  trees  furnish  hardwood  limber,  as  valuable  for 
making  tools,  furniture,  vehicles,  and  machinery  as  the  soft  woods  are  for 
house  construction. 

Resources.  —  About  seventy  per  cent  of  the  lands  originally 
forested  have  been  cleared  and,  together  with  the  grasslands, 
are  among  the  richest  f()od-i)r()ducing  regions  in  the  world.  The 
larger  wild  animals  and  nearly  all  the  smaller  ones  injurious  to 
human  welfare  have  been  exterminated  and  their  places  taken 
by  domestic  horses,  cattle,  swine,  sheep,  and  poultry. 

The  winters  are  generally  severe,  but  the  summers  are  long,  warm,  and 
moist  enough  to  ripen  the  cereal  grains.  During  the  growing  season  nearly 
as  much  energy  is  received  from  the  sun  daily  as  at  the  eciuator.  In  these 
regions  scientific  agriculture,  combined  with  stock  raising,  has  reached  its 
highest  development.  Every  year  billions  of  bushels  of  corn,  wheat,  oats, 
rye,  barley,  and  potatoes  and  millions  of  domestic  animals  are  raised  to 
feed  the  leading  nations  of  the  world.  Later  chapters  will  be  devoted  to  a 
study  of  their  economies. 

The  Subtropical  or  Warm  Temperate  Zones.  —  These  have  a 
temperate  and  a  hot  season.  On  the  polar  side  the  temperate 
season  is  the  longer  and  on  the  equatorial  side  the  hot  season 
is  the  longer.  There  is  no  cold  season,  the  temperature  of  the 
coldest  month  being  above  50°,  and  frost  is  rare.  The  growing 
season  lasts  more  than  half  the  year.  On  account  of  inequality 
of  rainfall,  the  vegetation  of  the  subtropical  zones  varies  from 
absolute  desert  to  luxuriant  evergreen  forest. 
/  Warm  Deserts.  —  All  the  great  deserts  of  the  world  occur  in  the 
subtropical  zones.  In  northern  Africa  the  great  Sahara  stretches 
across  the  continent  and  through  Arabia  and  Persia  to  India. 
In  North  America,  Nevada,  Utah,  Arizona,  and  portions  of 
Oregon,  New  Mexico,  Cahfornia,  Lower  Cahfornia,  and  Mexico 
suffer  from  desert  conditions,  modified  by  the  recurrence  of  two 
moist  seasons  in  the  year.  Along  the  coasts  of  Peru  and  Chile, 
a  narrow,  almost  rainless  belt  extends  for  2000  miles.     In  south- 


DKSERT    PLANTS 


65 


ern  Africa  the  Kalahari  desert  is  larger  than  Nevada,  and 
"  the  dead  heart  of  AustraHa  "  is  desert.  Desert  plateaus  and 
basins,  surrounded  by  mountains,  occur  in  central  Asia  in  the 
zone  of  cold  winters.     (See  Fig.  18.) 

Soils  and  Climate.  —  In  warm  deserts  the  most  barren  tracts  are  covered 
with  drifting  sand.  Hard  clay  tlats,  sometimes  with  a  crust  of  salt  or  soda, 
mark  the  beds  of  dried-up 
lakes.  The  soil  may  be 
rich  in  plant  food,  be- 
cause there  has  been 
nothing  to  wash  it  out, 
but  vegetation  is  sparse 
for  lack  of  water.  The 
rainfall  is  less  than  ten 
inches  a  year  (Fig.  17) 
and  in  some  places  no 
rain  falls  for  several  years. 
The  sky  is  clear  and  the 
sun's  rays  are  so  power- 
ful by  day  as  to  raise 
the  temperature  far  above 
100°.  At  night  the  heat 
escapes  rapidly  through 
the  clear  air,  and  the  tem- 
perature may  fall  to  near 
freezing. 

Desert  Plants.  — 
Many  species  of  plants  are 
able  to  survive  under  these  conditions,  because  they  expose  little  surface 
for  evaporation  and  have  an  extensive  root  system  to  absorb  water.  Desert 
plants  have  small,  leathery  leaves,  and  some,  like  the  cactus,  have  no  leaves 
at  all.  The  skin  is  thick  and  gummy  and  much  of  their  tissue  is  spongy 
for  the  storage  of  water.  Their  whole  structure  is  adapted  to  get  and 
store  as  much  water  as  possible,  and  to  keep  what  they  get  as  long  as 
possible  (Fig.  20).  In  many  places  the  desert  is  dotted  more  or  less  thickly 
with  clumps  of  stunted,  thorny  bushes,  with  wide,  bare  spaces  between. 
When  a  little  rain  falls,  these  plants  put  out  leaves  and  flowers  very  quickly 
and  ripen  seed  in  a  few  weeks. 

The  oases,  or  fertile  spots  in  the  Sahara,  are  due  to  the  presence  of  ground 


Fig. 


20.  —  Desert    vegetation,    southern     California. 
Notice  the  bare  spaces. 


66  PLANT    RKGIONS   AND    RESOURCES 

water  within  rc;uli  of  ])l;int  roots;  thi'>'  produce  (late  i)alnis,  j^raiii,  and  other 
crops  in  abunchinee.  la  many  places  an  artesian  well  will  sui)ply  water 
enough  to  create  an  arlilkial  oasis. 

^^nimals  and  Men.  Animal  and  human  life  in  ihc  desert  is 
very  limited  and  uncertain.  It  is  dependent  upon  ground 
water,  sunlight,  infrequent  and  irregular  rains,  and  irrigation 
from  streams  which  flow  from  neighl)oring  rainy  regions.  The 
people  of  the  Sahara  and  Arabia  are  nomads,  wandering  about 
with  camels,  asses,  and  horses  to  find  pasture,  and  to  trade  with 
or  rob  neighboring  peoples.  The  camel  is  "  the  ship  of  the 
desert,"  without  which  human  hfe  there  would  be  almost  im- 
possible. His  hoofs  are  padded  with  cushions  which  prevent 
his  sinking  in  the  sand,  his  nostrils  are  slits  which  he  can  close 
when  the  air  is  full  of  dust,  and  the  storage  cells  of  his  stomach 
enable  him  to  travel  many  days  or  even  weeks  without  drinking. 
As  a  pack  animal  he  can  carry  a  load  of  500  to  1000  pounds 
twenty  miles  a  day.  The  species  kept  for  riding  will  carry  a  man 
200  miles  in  twenty-four  hours.  _ 

Life  in  sedentary  communities  in  a  semi-desert  is  described  on 
pages  22-26. 

Resources.  —  The  economic  resources  of  the  desert  are  necessarily  limited, 
but  not  to  be  overlooked.  Salt,  soda,  and  borax  are  mined  from  the  dry 
lake  beds.  Saltpeter  and  guano,  so  valuable  as  fertilizers,  are  found  only 
where  no  rain  falls  to  wash  them  away.  Native  desert  plants  produce 
fiber,  rubber,  and  various  gums.  In  oases  and  irrigated  lands  like  the 
Nile  valley,  all  the  tropical  products  are  grown,  such  as  cotton,  sugar  cane, 
grapes,  olives,  dates,  and  other  fruits,  as  well  as  corn,  wheat,  barley,  and 
millet.  Ostrich  plumes  and  the  famous  Arabian  breed  of  riding  horses  are 
desert  products. 

Tropical  Dry  Forests.  —  In  the  subtropical  zones  there  are 
many  areas  where  the  rainfall  is  sufficient  to  support  shrubs  and 
small  trees  growing  in  clumps  rather  than  in  continuous  forests. 
They  all  have  small,  leathery  leaves  and  bear  a  general  resem- 
blance  to  desert  plants,   but  are  larger  and  more  numerous. 


TEMPERATE   R.\IN   FORESTS 


67 


They  sometimes  grow  in  thorny,  scraggy,  tangled  thickets 
which  are  difficult  to  penetrate.  The  vegetation  of  a  large 
part  of  the  Mexican  i>lateau  is  of  this  character. 

Mediterranean  Regions.  —  Some  regions  on  the  polar  sides 
of  the  subtropical  zones  have  twenty  inches  or  more  of  rain  in 
the  year,  but  most  of  it  falls  in  the  autumn  and  winter,  leaving 
the  summers  dry.  The  result  is  much  the  same  as  though  the 
annual  rainfall  were  less,  and 
the  vegetation  is  adapted  to 
dry  conditions.  Of  these  re- 
gions the  lands  around  the 
Mediterranean  Sea  are  the  most 
important. 

Grass  is  scanty  and  poor,  and 
sheep  and  goats  are  kept  in  prefer- 
ence to  cattle.  The  trees  have  small, 
leathery,  evergreen  leaves  and  thick 
bark,  like  the  oleander,  often  grown 
in  the  United  States  as  a  house  plant. 
The  most  important  arc  the  cork  oak, 
from  the  bark  of  which  the  cork  of 
commerce  is  obtained,  and  the  olive, 
the  oil  of  which  takes  the  place  of 
meat  and  butter.  Some  regions  are  very  favorable  for  the  growmg  of  tropical 
fruits,  such  as  table,  raisin,  and  wine  grapes,  figs,  oranges,  lemons,  pome- 
granates, and  dates.  Mulberry  trees  are  grown  for  their  leaves  upon  which 
silkworms  are  fed  (Fig.  21).  Corn  and  wheat  are  raised  in  the  cool,  moist 
season  or  by  means  of  irrigation.  Many  nut-bearing  trees  are  profitable 
for  human  food  and  for  feeding  swine.  The  climate,  vegetation,  and  prod- 
ucts of  southern  California  are  essentially  the  same  as  those  of  the  Medi- 
terranean region.  Small  areas  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Africa  and 
the  southwestern  point  of  Australia  enjoy  similar  conditions. 

Temperate  Rain  Forests.  —  Some  parts  of  the  subtropical 
zones  have  no  dry  or  cold  season,  but  are  not  excessively  warm 
or  wet.  They  are  naturally  occupied  by  broad-leaved,  ever- 
green forests,  much  like  those  along  the  equator  but  less  dense. 


—  Mulberry   Iciucs,    silkwijrms, 
cocoon,  and  moth. 


68  PLANT   KIXilONS  AND   ki:s()UR(i:s 

Southern  China  and  the  Gulf  states  of  the  United  States  are 
the  most  important  (Fig.  i8).  They  are  productive  of  rice,  sugar 
cane,  cotton,  and  fruits,  and  in  China  of  tobacco,  indigo,  mul- 
berry, camphor,  spices,  drugs,  and  tea. 

The  Equatorial  or  Intertropical  Zone.  —  The  widest  and  largest 
zone  of  the  earth  covering  nearly  two  fifths  of  its  surface  Hes  on 
both  sides  of  the  equator  (Fig.  17).  It  includes  the  larger  part 
of  South  America  and  Africa,  Central  America,  India,  farther 
India,  the  northern  coast  of  Australia,  the  East  and  West  Indies, 
and  the  swarming  islands  of  the  Pacific.  On  the  lowlands  the 
weather  is  always  hot,  the  temperature  of  the  coldest  month  being 
above  70°.  The  rainfall  is  very  heavy  except  on  plateaus  and 
lands  protected  by  mountains.  The  growing  season  is  determined 
not  by  temperature  but  by  rainfall.  Near  the  equator  rain  falls 
almost  every  day  in  the  year  and  there  is  no  change  of  seasons ; 
near  the  tropics,  summer  and  winter  differ  chiefly  in  being  one 
rainy  and  the  other  dry.  This  should  be  called  the  equatorial 
or  intertropical  zone,  but  is  commonly  referred  to  as  the  tropical 
regions  or  simply  "  the  tropics."  * 

Savannas.  —  Savannas  are  tropical  grasslands  which  resemble 
the  temperate  steppes.  Tall,  stiff  grasses  in  dense  tufts  are 
interspersed  with  low  trees,  scattered  about  or  growing  in  belts 
along  the  streams.  They  occur  on  plateaus  and  lands  partly 
protected  from  rain-bearing  winds.  The  most  extensive  savan- 
nas in  the  world  stretch  across  central  Africa,  almost  from  tropic 
to  tropic  (Fig.  18). 

The  African  savanna  is  the  home  of  immense  numbers  of  large  grass 
eaters,  among  which  are  the  elephant,  rhinoceros,  hippopotamus,  giraffe, 
zebra,  and  about  one  hundred  species  of  antelopes.  The  abundance  of 
game,  including  lions  and  leopards,  is  a  hindrance  to  human  occupation,  but 
indicates  the  great  possibiHties  of  the  country,  when  most  of  the  wild  ani- 
mals are  displaced  by  domestic  animals,  as  has  happened  in  America. 
Corn,  millet,  beans,  bananas,  sheep,  goats,  and  cattle  form  the  basis  of  sub- 
sistence for  the  native  tribes.  Ivory  from  elephants'  tusks  has  been  a 
source  of  great  profit  to  traders,  but  the  supply  is  rapidly  diminishing. 


SUMMARY  69 

The  Dckkan  plateau  of  Ind'ni  is  in  large  part  a  savanna.  Two  or  more 
crops  a  year  are  grown,  rice  or  cotton  in  the  hot,  moist  season  and  wheat 
in  the  cool,  dry  season.  The  country  is  so  densely  populated  that  in  years 
when  the  monsoon  rains  are  scant  thousands  of  people  die  of  starvation. 

The  southern  campos  of  Brazil  produce  about  three  fourths  of  the  world's 
supply  of  coffee  and  its  cultivation  might  be  extended. 

Tropical  Rain  Forests.  —  The  forest  of  equatorial  South 
America  has  been  described  on  pages  27-32.  The  forests  of 
west  equatorial  Africa  and  the  East  Indies  are  of  the  same 
general  character.  The  chief  economic  products  now  utilized 
are  rubber,  gutta  percha,  timber,  and  dyewood. 

Civilized  people  are  dependent  upon  the  savannas  and  cleared  lands  of 
the  tropics  for  a  very  long  list  of  products  which  contribute  to  their  comfort, 
pleasure,  and  health.  Those  most  extensively  used  are  sugar,  coffee,  tea, 
chocolate,  coconut,  spices,  and  fruits.  Sago,  palm  oil,  quinine,  and  many 
gums,  perfumes,  and  drugs  are  strictly  tropical  products.  On  tropical  low- 
lands rice  is  grown  in  quantities  which  rival  those  of  any  other  cereal  grain. 
It  forms  the  breadstuff  and  principal  food  of  one  half  the  human  species. 

Summary.  —  The  heat  belts  or  zones  of  temperature  are 
bounded  by  lines  which  show  the  average  temperature  of  the 
hottest  and  the  coldest  month  (January  and  July).  Tempera- 
tures below  50°  are  too  low  for  vigorous  plant  growth  and  are 
called  C(?W,  temperatures  above  70°  are  called  hot,  and  tempera- 
tures between  50°  and  70°  are  called  temperate.  There  are  five 
zones  which  differ  in  the  length  of  their  cold,  hot,  and  temperate 
seasons,  and  these  difTerences  determine  the  general  character 
of  the  plants  which  may  grow  there.  Each  zone  extends  around 
the  earth  across  lands  which  vary  in  size,  position,  rehef,  and 
soil.  The  kinds  of  forest,  grassland,  or  desert  which  actually 
exist  in  dififerent  parts  of  any  zone  depend  upon  the  amount 
and  season  of  rainfall.  The  agricultural  crops  possible  in  any 
region,  as  well  as  the  natural  plant  resources,  are  limited  by  the 
amount  of  available  water  in  the  soil. 


70  PLANT   REGIONS  AND    RESOURCES 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Why  arc  the  usual  torrid,  lL'ni|)c'ralc,  and  in}s,u\  zones,  bounded  by 
the  tropics  and  polar  circles,  unsatisfactory  as  zones  of  temj:)erature?  (See 
Fig.  1 7-) 

2.  Why  is  the  climate  of  the  lands  in  the  so-called  lenii)erale  zones  really 
intemperate  ? 

3.  Why  is  the  vegetation  different  in  different  j)arls  of  the  same  zone? 
(See  Fig.  1 8.) 

4.  What  is  the  difference  between  a  steppe  and  a  prairie  ? 

5.  Why  were  not  the  Indians  of  the  North  American  steppe  herdsmen? 

6.  Why  do  the  temperature  and  rainfall  of  winter  in  the  temperate  zone 
have  little  efTect  upon  crop  growing?     How  do  they  affect  stock  raising? 

7.  What  countries  lie  wholly  or  partly  in  the  Mediterranean  region? 

8.  Why  is  not  tea  an  important  crop  in  the  United  States? 

9.  Why  are  there  no  savannas  in  Europe  and  only  small  patches  in  North 
America  ? 

10.  Which  are  of  greater  value  to  mankind,  temperate  products  or  tropi- 
cal products  ? 


CHAPTER   VI 
MINERAL  AND   MARINE   RESOURCES 

Some  natural  resources  have  little  or  no-  relation  to  plants 
and  are  distributed  independently  of  plant  regions.  Most  of 
them  are  minerals  obtained  from  the  earth  crust.  The  sea  also 
furnishes  many  products,  both  mineral  and  animal,  among 
which  salt  and  fish  are  the  most  important. 

Air  and  Water.  —  The  most  widely  distributed  of  all  minerals  are  air 
and  water.  The  outer  shell  of  the  earth,  hundreds  of  miles  in  thickness, 
is  composed  of  air.  It  covers  land  and  sea  and  penetrates  both  to  great 
depths.  About  one  fifth  of  the  lower  air  is  oxygen,  a  constant  supply  of 
which  is  necessary  to  animal  life.  Without  it,  the  higher  animals,  includ- 
ing men,  can  live  but  a  few  minutes.  Plants  require  oxygen  for  growth, 
and  also  derive  about  three  fourths  of  their  bulk,  from  the  small  propor- 
tion (0.03  per  cent)  of  carbon  dioxide  in  the  air.  About  three  fourths  of 
the  air  is  nitrogen,  a  minute  per  cent  of  which  becomes  fixed  in  the  soil 
and  supplies  food  which  neither  plants  nor  animals  can  live  without.  Water 
vapor  is  everywhere  present  in  the  air  and  from  it  is  derived  the  whole  supply 
of  water  on  land.  The  air  contains  many  impurities  in  the  form  of  dust 
made  up  of  mineral  particles,  smoke,  and  minute  plants  or  germs,  some  of 
which  are  favorable  and  some  fatal  to  human  life. 

The  waters  of  the  seas,  lakes,  and  rivers  cover  more  than  three  fourths 
of  the  earth  crust.  The  ground  water  penetrates  the  crust  to  great  depths, 
connects  the  oceans  from  shore  to  shore,  and  thus  completes  an  unbroken 
sheet  of  water  around  the  globe.  Land  plants  depend  directly  upon  ground 
water,  and  land  animals  directly  upon  fresh  surface  water  for  food.  The 
water  in  the  ground  is  the  source  of  more  wealth  than  all  minerals  mined, 
not  excepting  coal,  iron,  gold,  and  silver. 

Rocks.  —  The  solid  earth  crust  is  made  up  of  rocks  of  many  kinds.  On 
the  surface  the  rocks  have  been  broken  up  by  air,  water,  and  frost  into  a 

ELEM.    ECON.    GEOG.  —  5  71 


72 


MINERAL   AND    MARINE   RESOURCES 


laycrof  loose,  iiicolu'rciil  fr;i^nu'nts,  calK'd  wiuillc  nnk  ( l''i^.  ?.?.).     l''roin  this 
tiiaiillc,  soils  arc  derived,  eoiisisling  mainly  of  (  l;i\ ,  sand,  and  gravel.      Next 


Fig.  22.  —  Mantle  rock  overlying  stratified  bedrock. 

to  air  and  water,  soil  is  the  most  widely  distributed  of  mineral  resources. 
Not  only  does  all  land  life  depend  upon  mantle  rock,  but  its  materials  are 
used  for  many  purposes,  such  as  clay  for  brick,  tile,  and  pottery,  sand  for 
mortar  and  glass,  and  gravel  for  concrete  and  road  metal.  Limestone,  sand- 
stone, granite,  and  many  other  kinds  of  rock  are  quarried  for  buildings, 
bridges,  and  walls.  Limestone  is  most  widely  used,  both  in  its  natural 
state  and  after  burning  for  quicklime,  from  which  mortar  and  plaster  are 
made. 

CoaL  —  The  most  valuable  bedrocks  in  the  world  are  the  beds 
of  coal.  Milhons  of  years  ago  vegetable  matter  accumulated 
in  swamps  and  was  buried  under  loads  of  mud.  By  pressure 
and  heat  it  has  been  converted  into  mineral  coal.  When  burned, 
coal  produces  so  much  heat  that  it  is  used  wherever  obtainable 


PETROLEUM 


73 


for  making  steam  to  run  engines  and  machinery.  There  is  coal 
in  Greenland  and  near  the  tropics  in  India,  Australia,  and 
Africa,  but  the  great  coal  fields  of  the  world  are  in  the  north 
temperate  and  cold  temperate  zones,  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  in  western  and  central  Europe,  and  in  China  and  Japan 
(Figs.  23,  24).  This  adds  greatly  to  the  resources  of  the  summer 
forest  and  grasslands  where  agriculture  flourishes.     These  coun- 


FiG.  23.  —  Distribution  of  coal. 

tries  have  the  raw  materials  and  power  for  manufactures  and 
the  means  of  transportation  for  home  and  foreign  trade ;  they 
display  the  most  intense  economic  activity  in  every  line,  produce 
enormous  wealth,  and  are  the  homes  of  the  leading  people  of 
the  world. 


Petroleum.  —  Another  mineral,  second  only  to  coal  in  value  as  fuel,  is 
petroleum.  It  is  abundant  in  the  United  States,  southeastern  Russia, 
Mexico,  and  Canada.  The  crude  oil  obtained  directly  from  wells  is  used  for 
generating  steam  in  engines,  as  a  "  binder  "  in  paving,  and  for  keeping  down 
dust  on  wagon  roads.  The  greater  part  is  refined  and  split  up  into  numer- 
ous products:  kerosene  is  used  nea.r\y  the  world  over  in  lamps  for  lighting, 
gasoline  for  the  engines  of  automobiles  and  launches,  and  heavier  oils  for 
lubricating  machinery. 


74 


MINKRAL   AND    MARINE   RESOURCES 


Metallic  Ores.  -  The  metal-bearing  rocks  generally  occur 
in  thin  veins  or  streaks,  tilling  what  were  once  cracks  in  the 
earth  crust.  Such  veins  are  most  common  in  mountainous  re- 
gions where  the  crust  has  been  broken,  and  in  lands  worn  down 
by  erosion  until  rocks  once  deeply  buried  are  exposed  at   the 


Fig.  24.  —  A  coal  seam  eight  feet  thick  in  a  West  Virginia  mine. 

surface.  Hence  metals  are  often  mined  in  regions  which  are 
worthless  for  agriculture,  thinly  inhabited,  and  difficult  of 
access.  The  native  rock  or  ore  is  reached  by  shafts  and  tunnels, 
mined  by  drilling  and  blasting,  and  transported  long  distances, 
sometimes  thousands  of  miles,  to  a  furnace  or  smelter.  There  by 
means  of  coal  the  metal  is  extracted,  purified,  and  made  ready 
for  use. 

Iron.  —  Of  all  metals,  the  most  useful  and  valuable  to  man  is 
iron  (Fig.  25).  The  ore  is  plentiful  and  widely  distributed,  but 
the  cost  of  extraction  is  rather  high,  owing  to  the  very  high  tem- 


GOLD   AND   SILVER 


75 


perature  required.  The  first  use  of  iron  for  tools  and  cutting  in- 
struments laid  the  foundation  of  civilization,  and  its  present  use 
for  machinery,  vehicles,  railroads,  bridges,  and  large  buildings 
makes  our  era  the  age  of  steel.  The  wealth,  power,  and  rank  of 
any  nation  may  be  measured  by  the  quantity  of  coal  and  iron 
used.  Graded  by  this  standard,  the  United  States,  Germany, 
Great  Britain,  and  France  lead  the  world. 


Fig.  25.  —  Distribution  of  iron  and  copper. 

Copper.  —  Next  to  iron  among  metals,  copper  plays  the  most 
important  part  in  modern  industry  (Fig.  25).  This  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  it  is  a  good  conductor  of  electricity  and  enters  into  the 
construction  of  all  electrical  apparatus.  Copper  makes  pos- 
sible the  telegraph,  telephone,  electric  light,  electric  railway, 
and  the  distribution  of  power  from  a  waterfall  or  central  station 
over  a  large  area.  More  copper  is  mined  in  Arizona  and  Mon- 
tana than  in  all  the  rest  of  the  world. 

Lead,  Zinc,  Tin,  Aluminum,  NickeL  and  other  metals  fill  less  important 
places  in  the  arts  than  iron  and  copper,  but  for  many  purposes  they  could 
hardly  be  dispensed  with. 

Gold  and  Silver.  —  The  precious  metals  have  always  been 
highly  prized  for  their  color,  brightness,  and   durability,  which 


76 


MINERAL   AND    MARINE    RESOURCES 


make  them  suitable  for  ornaments,  jewelry,  and  tableware. 
Their  general  use  as  a  standard  by  which  to  measure  the  xalue 
of  all  other  commodities  and  for  coinage  into  money,  makes  them 
an  essential  part  of  the  economy  of  all  civilized  peoples.  During 
the  last  half  century,  their  production  has  enormously  increased, 
and  in  consequence  the  value  of  silver  has  declined  about  one 
half.  The  trade  of  the  world  has  grown  with  the  amount  of 
gold  in  use  as  money,  and  gold  has  declined  little,  if  any,  in 
value.  South  Africa,  western  United  States,  and  Australia 
lead  in  the  mining  of  gold,  and  Mexico  and  western  United  States 
in  the  mining  of  silver  (Fig.  26). 


Fig.  26.  —  Distribution  of  gold  and  silver. 


Fertilizers.  —  Of  more  real  value  to  man  than  gold,  silver,  and 
diamonds  are  materials  from  which  fertilizers  can  be  made  for 
feeding  plants  (p.  51).  If  crops  are  grown  and  removed  from 
the  land  for  many  years,  the  soil  becomes  "  worn-out  "  and  the 
yield  diminishes  unless  food  for  plants  is  in  some  way  restored. 
The  plant  foods  first  exhausted  are  phosphorus,  potash,  and 
nitrogen,  and  artificial  fertilizers  generally  contain  these  elements. 
The  factories  use  animal  waste  whenever  it  can  be  obtained, 
refuse  from  slaughterhouses  and  fish  canneries,  bird  guano  from 


FISHERIES  77 

oceanic  islands,  and  marine  fish,  like  the  menhaden,  which  are 
too  bony  and  oily  for  human  food.  But  these  are  insufficient, 
and  a  last  resort  must  be  had  to  mineral  resources. 

Phosphorus  exists  on  the  earth  in  very  small  quantities  and 
is  most  concentrated  in  the  bones  of  animals.  The  remains  of 
myriads  of  animals,  buried  ages  ago  in  the  mud  at  the  bottom 
of  the  sea,  have  been  changed  into  phosphate  rock  and  raised 
above  sea  level.  Extensive  beds  of  this  rock  are  mined  in 
Florida  and  Tennessee,  and  larger  deposits  have  been  found  near 
Yellowstone  Park. 

Potash  is  plentiful  in  the  rocks  of  the  earth  crust  but  difficult 
to  extract.  The  world's  main  dependence  has  been  upon  mines 
of  potash  salts  at  Stassfurt,  Germany.  Kelp,  a  seaweed  which 
grows  in  inexhaustible  quantities  off  the  coast  of  California,  is 
rich  in  potash,  yielding  fifteen  tons  per  acre. 

Nitrogen,  forming  about  three  fourths  of  the  air,  is  one  of  the 
most  abundant  of  plant  foods,  but  is  the  most  expensive  to  get 
hold  of  and  deal  with.  Although  plants  are  bathed  in  an  ocean 
of  free  nitrogen,  they  can  make  little  use  of  it.  An  electric  dis- 
charge through  air  causes  some  of  the  nitrogen  to  combine  with 
oxygen,  and  the  gas  formed  can  be  caught  and  held  by  lime. 
In  Norway  water  power  is  used  to  generate  electric  current  by 
which  nitrate  of  lime  is  now  made  from  air  and  sold  for  fertilizer. 
The  chief  commercial  supply  of  nitrogen  has  been  from  natural 
beds  of  nitrate  of  soda  in  the  desert  of  Chile. 

Other  Minerals.  —  There  are  many  other  mmerals  in  common  use,  of 
which  salt,  obtained  from  sea  water,  from  wells,  and  from  mines,  is  the 
most  important. 

Fisheries.  —  The  animals  of  the  sea  form  no  exception  to 
the  law  that  animal  life  is  everywhere  dependent  upon  plant 
life,  but  their  relations  are  complex  and  not  so  easily  understood 
as  the  dependence  of  cattle  upon  grass.  The  term  fisheries,  as 
commonly  used,  includes  the  taking  not  only  of  fish,  but  also 


78 


MIX  KRAI.    AM)    MAKINl'    ki:SOURCi;S 


of  seals,  whales,  lobsters,  oysters,  pearls,  sponges,  and  other 
ocean  products.  The  most  productive  fisheries  are  found  in 
the  cool  waters  of  the  northern  hemisphere  (Fig.  27).  From 
the  shallow  waters  off  the  Atlantic  coast  from  Cape  Cod  to 
Labrador,  cod  and  mackerel  are  taken  in  immense  quantities ; 
salmon  on  the  Pacific  coast  from  California  to  Alaska ;  cod, 
herring,  and  halibut  oft"  the  coast  of  Norway  ;  sole,  haddock,  cod, 
turbot,    and    mackerel    in   the    North   Sea ;   salmon,   cod,   and 


Fig.  27.  — Distribution  of  foiheries. 

herring  around  Japan ;  sardines,  anchovies,  and  tunnies  in  the 
Mediterranean ;  and  oysters  in  Long  Island  Sound  and  Chesa- 
peake Bay.  Seals  and  whales,  hunted  chiefly  for  their  oil, 
are  found  around  Labrador  and  Greenland,  and  in  the  North 
Pacific,  Arctic,  and  Antarctic  waters.  From  inland  waters 
the  whitefish  and  trout  of  the  Laurentian  lakes  and  the 
sturgeon  of  the  Volga  River  and  Caspian  Sea  are  the  most 
important. 

Summary.  —  Air,  water,  rocks,  metals,  petroleum,  ^as,  salt, 
and  other  mineral  resources,  necessary  to  life  itself  or  to  the  best 
ways  of  living,  are  obtained  from  the  atmosphere,  from  the  sea, 
and  from  the  solid  crust  of  the  earth.     The  sea  and   inland 


QUESTIONS  79 

waters  also  contribute  richly  to  the  income  of  the  human  family. 
Mineral  and  marine  resources  difTer  from  nearly  all  others  in 
having  little  or  no  relation  to  climate. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Suppose  all  the  metallic  iron  in  the  world  to  disappear  suddenly  by 
magic.  What  would  be  the  immediate  eflfects  upon  your  family  and  com- 
munity? upon  your  state  or  country?  finally  upon  mankind? 

2.  For  what  are  lead,  zinc,  tin,  aluminum,  and  nickel  used? 

3.  Why  are  fish  of  more  importance  in  England  and  New  England  than 
in  Iowa  or  Colorado  ? 

4.  Why  is  gold  worth  more  per  ounce  than  copper?  silver  than  tin? 

5.  What  is  meant  by  the  stone  age?  the  age  of  bronze?  the  age  of  iron? 
the  golden  age? 


CHAPTER  VII 
INDUSTRY  AND   TRADE 

Any  sort  of  productive  work  is  an  industry,  but  the  word 
has  come  to  be  used  especially  for  mechanical  and  manufactur- 
ing business  on  a  large  scale,  as  distinguished  from  agriculture. 

Domestic  Industry.  —  Formerly  every  household  made  at 
home  whatever  articles  it  needed,  out  of  such  materials  as  could 
be  had,  and  literally  by  hand.  Generally  such  articles  are  costly 
in  time  and  labor  and  not  of  the  best  quality.  Yet  they  may  be 
so  good  as  to  make  the  terms  homemade  and  handmade  imply 
superior  excellence.  Among  the  early  settlers  and  pioneers  of 
America,  each  family  was  nearly  self-supporting,  producing  at 
home  from  its  own  resources  most  of  whatever  food,  clothing, 
housing,  and  conveniences  it  had.  Little  was  carried  to  market 
and  "  bough  ten  "  articles  were  regarded  as  luxuries.  Under  such 
a  system  nobody  could  produce  much  surplus  to  sell  and  buy 
with.  The  only  possible  development  or  improvement  was  a 
division  of  labor,  by  which  one  man  or  household  raised  grain 
and  animals,  another  tanned  hides,  another  made  shoes,  an- 
other ground  grain,  another  worked  in  iron,  another  built 
houses,  another  spun  wool  or  flax  and  wove  cloth,  and  another 
made  garments.  Thus  arose  the  fundamental  trades  of  farmer, 
tanner,  shoemaker,  miller,  blacksmith,  carpenter,  mason,  weaver, 
and  tailor.  When  their  products  were  exchanged  it  was  found 
that  the  wants  of  every  household  could  be  supplied  more  fully 
and  cheaply  than  when  each  tried  to  do  everything.  The  work 
was  still  done  mainly  by  hand  and  at  home. 

The  Industrial  Revolution.  —  The  invention  of  the  steam  engine  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  revolutionized  human  industry  by  open- 

80 


THE   FACTORY   SYSTEM  8l 

ing  to  mankind  enormous  stores  of  power  from  burning  wood  or  eoal.  This 
stimulated  the  invention  of  machinery  designed  to  do  on  a  large  scale  what 
men  had  been  doing  by  hand  on  a  small  scale.  A  spinning  jenny  and  a 
power  loom  could  produce  from  wool  or  cotton  more  cloth  in  a  day  than  a 
hundred  men  could  turn  out  by  hand  in  a  year.  In  consequence  cloth  be- 
came so  much  cheaper  and  the  use  of  it  so  much  increased,  that  many  times 
as  many  persons  as  before  were  employed  in  spinning  and  weaving,  and 
people  were  better  clothed.  A  similar  change  occurred  in  all  industries  and 
is  still  in  progress.  Now  almost  the  only  articles  which  are  made  by  hand 
and  are  not  machine-made  are  works  of  art. 

The  Factory  System.  —  The  advent  of  machinery  almost  did 
away  with  domestic  manufacture.  Machines  must  be  placed  in 
large  buildings  where  they  can  be  run  by  a  single  engine.  The 
raw  materials  to  be  manufactured  must  be  brought  to  the 
machines,  and  a  large  number  of  operators  must  be  employed  to 
tend  the  machines.  All  this  requires  the  expenditure  of  large 
sums  of  money.  Thus  sprang  up  the  factory  system,  main- 
tained by  capitalists,  who  build  the  buildings,  install  the  machin- 
ery, furnish  raw  material,  hire  the  workman  for  wages,  and  sell 
the  product.  The  location  of  a  successful  industry  is  deter- 
mined by  many  conditions : 

1.  A  supply  of  raw  materials  to  be  manufactured. 

2.  Capital,  or  money  to  construct  buildings,  to  buy  machinery 
and  materials,  and  to  pay  wages. 

3.  Power  to  run  the  machinery,  usually  derived  from  coal 
or  water  power. 

4.  A  supply  of  labor,  or  a  sufficient  number  of  workmen 
to  run  the  factory. 

5.  Housing,  food,  clothing,  and  other  necessities  and  com- 
forts for  the  workmen  and  their  families. 

6.  A  market  in  which  to  sell  the  manufactured  goods. 

7.  Cheap  transportation  for  materials  and  goods. 

The  existence  in  some  degree  of  all  these  conditions  in  one  locality  or 
region  is  likely  to  make  it  a  manufacturing  site,  town,  or  country.  The 
presence  of  coal  or  water  power  seems  to  be  the  most  potent  single  factor. 


82  INDUSTRY   AND   TRADE 

Water  power  made  New  Kngliind  the  first  niunufacturing  (iislricl  of  ihe 
United  Stales;  it  now  makes  factories  cluster  around  Niagara  Fails  and 
is  likely  to  make  Norway  a  manufacturing  country  in  the  future.  Coal 
makes  the  Pittsburgh  district  the  center  of  the  American  iron  industry  and 
Great  Britain  the  greatest  manufacturing  country  in  the  world. 

Foodstuffs.  —  Of  all  natural  resources  foodstuffs  require  the 
least  elaboration.  Fruits,  nuts,  and  vegetables  may  be  eaten 
fresh,  roots  and  grains  with  little  preparation  except  cooking. 
Meats  and  lish  are  eaten  fresh,  but  arc  also  dried,  salted,  smoked, 
canned,  or  otherwise  preserved  on  a  large  scale.  The  great 
industries  dealing  with  foodstuffs  are  canning,  milling,  baking, 
meat  packing,  and  the  manufacture  of  butter,  cheese,  and  con- 
densed milk. 

Clothing.  —  Among  materials  for  clothing,  furs  are  worn 
most  nearly  in  their  natural  condition,  but  they  are  usually 
cured,  dyed,  and  sewed.  Hides  are  tanned  into  leather,  from 
which  shoes  and  gloves  are  inade.  The  textile  industry,  or 
weaving  of  cotton,  wool,  silk,  and  linen  into  cloth  is  more  com- 
plex than  food  preparation  and  assumes  enormous  proportions. 
This  is  done  by  machinery  and  demands  little  skill  of  the  work- 
men. The  cloth  has  then  to  be  dyed  and  made  into  garments, 
largely  by  handwork,  which,  in  the  case  of  fine  clothing,  dress- 
making, and  millinery,  may  demand  a  high  grade  of  artistic  skill. 

Constructive  Materials.  —  In  the  utilization  of  materials  for  construc- 
tion, woodworking  is  the  simplest  and  easiest  industry.  Trees  are  felled 
by  hand,  but  the  sawing,  planing,  and  shaping  of  timber  into  lumber,  imple- 
ments, vehicles,  and  furniture  are  done  by  machinery  on  a  large  scale.  Fine 
carpentry,  cabinet  work,  and  wood  carving  furnish  a  field  for  the  exercise 
of  skill  and  artistic  ability. 

Minerals  are  more  difficult  to  work  than  wood  and  their  use 
in  great  variety  is  a  late  event  in  human  history.  The  simplest 
and  most  primitive  mineral  industries  are  the  making  of  adobe, 
or  sun-dried  brick,  for  houses,  and  the  piling  up  of  loose  stones 
into  walls.     At  present  bricks  are  burned,  and  building  stone  is 


TRADE  83 

quarried,  sawed,  hewn,  carved,  and  polished.  PMne  clay  is  worked 
into  pottery  and  chinaware,  and  sand  into  glass,  each  of  which 
is  material  for  high  types  of  decorative  art. 

Metallurgy.  —  Few  industries  demand  so  much  scientific 
knowledge  as  metallurgy.  Few  metals  occur  in  nature  in 
metallic  form,  and  there  is  little  in  the  appearance  of  an  ore  to 
suggest  to  the  unlearned  person  that  it  contains  a  metal.  The 
extraction  and  working  of  iron  and  other  metals  are  now  carried 
on  by  processes  depending  upon  heat  derived  from  coal,  gas,  or 
electricity,  and  involving  the  use  of  large  capital  and  the  most 
highly  specialized  scientific  knowledge  and  technical  skill. 

Chemical  Industries.  —  A  group  of  industries  dependent  upon  the  prog- 
ress of  the  science  of  chemistry  has  come  into  prominence  during  the  last 
century.  It  includes  the  manufacture  of  petroleum  products  and  gas  for 
light,  heat,  and  power,  of  acids,  alcohols,  ethers,  and  other  solvents,  of  alka- 
lies for  soap  and  glass  making,  salts  used  in  the  arts  and  in  medicine,  drugs, 
dyes,  paints,  fertilizers,  and  thousands  of  articles  in  demand  among  all 
civilized  people.  The  manufacture  of  comm.on  luxuries,  such  as  tobacco, 
wines,  beer,  and  distilled  liquors,  has  assumed  enormous  proportions. 

Intellectual  and  ^Esthetic  Industries.  —  The  fullest  development  of 
human  faculties  involves  the  production  and  use  of  articles  which  minister 
directly  or  indirectly  to  intellectual  needs  and  to  the  enjoyment  of  the 
beautiful  in  art.  The  commonest  of  such  articles  are  paper,  made  from 
vegetable  fiber  (at  present  chiefly  from  wood  pulp),  inks,  dyes,  pigments, 
perfumes,  and  flavors.  The  printing  of  newspapers  and  books  is  one  of 
the  great  mdustries  of  the  world.  The  wall  paper,  rugs,  and  carpets, 
printed  cloths,  engravings,  photographs,  glass,  china,  silverware,  and  jewelry, 
found  in  nearly  every  household,  owe  much  of  their  value  to  beauty.  Even 
the  production  of  paintings,  sculpture,  music,  and  literature  may  be  classed 
among  industries  which  minister  to  human  wants  and  which  are  dependent 
in  some  degree  upon  material  resources. 

Trade.  —  It  is  difficult  to  imagine  any  community  of  men  in 
which  no  one  wants  anything  possessed  by  another.  Trade  is 
the  redistribution  of  goods  according  to  the  various  needs  of 
different  persons.  In  trade  each  party  exchanges  something 
which  he  wants  less  for  something  which  he  wants  more,  and  the 


84  INDUSTRY   AND   TRADK 

exchange  is  to  the  advantage  of  both.  Among  primitive  peoples 
trade  consists  of  barter,  or  the  direct  exchange  of  articles  or  goods. 
One  man  has  made  several  bows  or  pairs  of  moccasins,  when  he 
can  use  but  one  or  two.  Another  man  has  killed  several  deer 
and  has  more  venison  and  deerskins  than  he  can  use.  An  ex- 
change of  bows  or  moccasins  for  meat  and  hides  makes  both 
parties  richer.  As  the  number  and  variety  of  articles  exchanged 
increase,  the  need  for  some  standard  by  which  values  may  be 
measured,  and  for  some  convenient  medium  of  exchange  is  felt, 
and  all  goods  are  priced  and  paid  for  by  one  kind,  usually 
the  more  highly  valued. 

White  people  in  central  Africa  buy  a  sheep  for  one  or  more  sticks  of  to- 
bacco, or  cattle  for  ten  yards  of  calico  per  head.  Among  some  tribes  the 
regular  price  of  a  wife  is  thirty  goats.  Thus  tobacco,  calico,  and  goats  are 
used  as  we  use  money.  Among  civilized  people,  gold,  silver,  and  copper 
coins  are  found  to  be  the  most  convenient  form  of  money.  They  have  a 
definite  value  which  does  not  change  much,  and  are  made  of  different  sizes 
and  values  to  facilitate  exact  payment  and  "  making  change."  ]\Iost  of 
the  world's  great  commerce  is  now  carried  on  by  means  of  paper  representa- 
tives of  money,  such  as  government  notes,  bank  biUs,  checks,  and  drafts, 
which  are  usually  convertible  into  coin,  if  desired. 

Commerce.  —  Among  progressive  peoples,  primitive  barter 
and  local  trade  still  persist,  but  have  been  far  surpassed  by 
domestic  commerce  involving  the  whole  country  and  foreign  com- 
merce involving  the  whole  world.  Commerce  grows  out  of  the 
diversity  of  resources  and  products  for  which  each  zone  and  re- 
gion of  the  earth  is  naturally  adapted.  Furs  and  fat  come 
from  the  polar  caps,  furs  and  timber  from  the  coniferous  forests, 
meat  and  wool  from  the  steppes,  meat  and  grain  from  temperate 
forest  and  prairie,  cotton,  coffee,  spices,  and  fruits  from  the 
tropics.  Every  community  wants  some  share  of  all  these  goods, 
and  commerce  in  them,  especially  between  the  tropics  and  the 
temperate  zones,  has  been  carried  on  by  caravans  and  sail- 
ing  vessels   for   centuries.     The   advent   of   the   steam   engine 


SUMMARY  85 

enormously  increased  the  amount  and  variety  of  products  manu- 
factured in  the  temperate  zones.  The  use  of  steam  power  on 
railroads  and  ships  makes  possible  a  movement  of  goods  along 
east-west  lines  exceeding  in  volume  and  value  the  commerce 
between  different  zones. 

It  has  come  to  pass  that  the  possession  of  coal,  iron,  and  water  power, 
with  facilities  for  transportation  by  land  and  sea,  enables  any  people  to 
use  whatever  foodstuffs  and  raw  materials  they  have,  to  buy  whatever 
they  want  from  any  part  of  the  earth,  to  sell  surplus  products,  and  to  manu- 
facture and  sell  any  articles  for  which  they  find  a  market.  Thus  by  foreign 
commerce,  the  environment  of  a  community,  or  the  territory  from  which 
the  people  get  their  living,  is  extended  to  include  the  whole  world,  and  it 
may  enjoy  some  share  of  all  the  world's  goods.  Each  community  produces 
those  goods  which  it  can  produce  to  the  best  advantage,  and  buys  abroad 
those  goods  for  which  other  communities  have  better  facilities.  All  pro- 
duction tends  to  be  localized  where  it  is  cheapest,  and  the  economic  efficiency, 
wealth,  and  prosperity  of  mankind  are  increased.  It  is  plain  that  world 
commerce  can  be  carried  on  only  by  friendly  intercourse  and  that  it  is  a 
powerful  influence  in  preserving  peace  among  nations.  Nothing  conduces 
more  to  the  general  welfare  of  mankind  than  freedom  and  security  of  trade. 

Summary.  —  By  the  division  of  labor,  the  use  of  steam  and 
water  power,  the  invention  of  machines,  and  the  expansion  of 
trade  into  world  commerce,  the  available  resources  of  the  human 
family  have  been  greatly  increased.  The  environment  of  many 
communities  has  been  extended  over  the  whole  face  of  the  earth, 
and  human  life  has  become  extremely  rich  and  complex. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  domestic  manufactures  are  carried  on  in  your  community? 

2.  Where  do  the  materials  used  in  these  manufactures  come  from? 

3.  Where  are  the  finished  products  marketed? 

4.  What  articles  used  in  your  household  have  come  from  far  distant 
regions  ? 

5.  If  an  extensive  trade  should  be  established  between  the  Americans 
and  the  Chinese,  what  effect  would  it  have  upon  the  two  peoples,  beyond 
increasing  their  wealth  ? 


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CHAPTER   VIII 
ECONOMIES   AND   ECONOMIC   SOCIETIES 

It  is  now  possible  to  see  how  and  why  people  make  a  living  in 
so  many  different  ways  and  to  take  a  general  view  of  all  the 
different  kinds  of  economy  practiced  by  mankind  in  different 
parts  of  the  world.     (See  Fig.  28.) 

Collective  Economies.  —  The  simplest,  crudest,  and  least  ef- 
fective way  of  getting  a  living  is  to  pluck  or  gather  whatever 
nature  provides.  This  can  hardly  be  depended  upon  outside 
the  tropics,  but  in  the  equatorial  zone,  fruits,  nuts,  and  roots 
mature  spontaneously  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  in  such  pro- 
fusion that,  with  the  addition  of  fish,  a  moderately  dense  popu- 
lation can  get  a  living  with  little  effort  (p.  20). 

Between  the  tropics  and  the  poles  a  sparse  population  can  support  them- 
selves by  hunting  and  fishing.  The  Indians  of  eastern  North  America 
carried  such  economy  to  its  highest  efficiency  without  the  use  of  metals, 
and  developed  perhaps  the  best  type  of  manhood  under  such  conditions. 
Yet  the  total  population  was  less  than  that  of  one  of  our  smaller  states,  and 
they  were  savages  poorly  clothed  and  housed  and  subject  to  frequent  famine. 

Collective  econom}-  in  all  its  forms  is  purely  destructive. 
It  never  increases  but  always  decreases  natural  resources. 

Agriculture.  —  The  cultivation  of  plants  secures  a  large  and 
relatively  constant  food  supply,  enables  people  to  live  together 
in  fixed  and  populous  communities,  and  gives  opportunity  for 
the  development  of  domestic  arts,  social  and  political  institu- 
tions, and  the  refinements  of  civilization.  Its  simplest  form  is 
hoe  culture,  carried  on  usually  by  the  women  with  rude  imple- 
ments and  entirely  by  hand.     It  is  often  combined  with  fishing, 

87 


88  ECONOMIl'.S   AND    ECONOMIC   SOCIKTIKS 

hunting,  or  herdin,!,^.  Hoc  culture  is  most  efficient  in  the  equa- 
torial or  moist  sul)tr()j)ical  zones,  but  may  be  extended  into 
temperate  regions.  It  persists  among  advanced  peoples  in  the 
form  of  garden  cullure. 

Field  Culture.  — •  With  the  introduction  of  draft  animals 
and  corresponding  implements,  the  average  area  cultivated  by 
each  farmer  increases,  and  hoe  culture  passes  into  field  culture^ 
which  prevails  in  the  temperate  zones.  In  new  countries,  like 
the  United  States,  where  land  is  plentiful  and  cheap,  tield  cul- 
ture is  extensive  and  superficial.  It  is  profitable  for  the  farmer 
to  cultivate  a  large  tract  imperfectly  and  to  get  a  return,  small 
per  acre,  but  large  in  the  aggregate.  As  population  increases 
and  land  becomes  more  costly,  agriculture  becomes  more  inten- 
sive. Fields  and  farms  grow  smaller,  but  the  yield  per  acre 
and  the  total  return  increase. 

Special  crops,  such  as  celery,  onions,  sugar  beets,  tobacco,  small  fruits, 
and  vegetables,  are  grown  by  garden  culture  in  which  some  animal  power 
is  used.  The  most  efficient  agriculture,  obtaining  the  largest  possible 
returns  from  the  land,  must  be  some  form  of  garden  culture.  Such  economy 
prevails  in  China,  Japan,  India,  Egypt,  and  portions  of  southern  Europe, 
where  labor  is  cheap  and  a  dense  population  is  supported.  Which  is  more 
profitable  anywhere,  field  or  garden  culture,  is  a  question  determined  largely^ 
by  the  supply  and  the  cost  of  labor.  Field  culture  combined  with  stock 
raising  is  characteristic  of  the  most  highly  civilized  peoples. 

Plantation  Culture.  —  In  the  tropics  certain  crops  are  raised 
on  plantations,  or  large  tracts  of  land,  generally  o\vTied  by 
foreigners  and  worked  by  native  labor  under  some  sort  of  com- 
pulsion. Sugar  cane,  coffee,  tea,  cinchona,  cacao,  cotton,  hene- 
quen,  rubber,  and  fruits  are  thus  grown.  On  account  of  the 
cost  of  machinery  and  the  facilities  for  handling  such  products, 
it  does  not  pay  to  raise  them  on  a  small  scale,  but  natives  of  the 
tropics  seldom  have  the  skill,  enterprise,  or  capital  necessary  to 
carry  on  the  business.  Slave  labor,  once  common  on  plantations, 
has  nearly  disappeared. 


SCIENTIFIC   COLLECTIVE   ECONOMY  89 

Horticulture  and  Plant  Breeding.  — The  growing  of  fruil-bcaring  shrubs 
and  orchard  trees,  and  the  discovery  and  breeding  of  new  and  better  varieties 
of  grains,  fruits,  roots,  and  all  domestic  plants,  are  branches  of  scientific 
agriculture  carried  on  with  great  energy  and  success  among  advanced 
peoples. 

Herding.  — ■  The  domestication  of  animals  is  a  fundamental 
economy,  second  in  importance  only  to  agriculture.  Herding 
makes  good  use  of  the  most  valuable  resource  of  the  steppes 
—  grass ;  but  without  agriculture  it  can  support  only  a  sparse 
population.  Scattered  and  wandering  herdsmen  can  never 
enjoy  the  advantages  of  social  intercourse  essential  to  high 
civilization. 

Stock  Breeding.  —  In  agricultural  communities  animals  are  kept  to  con- 
vert a  part  of  the  produce  into  meat,  milk,  and  power.  Coarse  fodder 
unfit  for  human  food,  waste  products,  and  many  of  the  less  palatable  grains 
and  roots  are  thus  utilized,  and  the  resources  of  the  environment  are  made 
the  most  of.  The  improvement  of  breeds  of  domestic  animals,  as  cattle 
for  beef  or  milk,  sheep  for  mutton  or  wool,  horses  for  strength  or  speed, 
swine  for  rapid  growth,  and  fowls  for  eggs,  has  attained  a  high  degree  of 
scientific  advancement. 

Scientific  Collective  Economy.  —  Collective  economy  is  as 
essential  to  an  advanced  civilization  as  to  the  simplest  life  on  a 
tropical  island.  Plucking  wild  fruits  plays  a  trifling  part,  but 
lumbering,  quarrying,  and  mining  must  be  pursued  on  an  ex- 
panding scale.  These  are  collective  economies  because  they  are 
destructive  inroads  upon  nature's  capital  laid  up  for  human 
use.  Except  so  far  as  forests  may  be  planted  and  conserved, 
man  can  do  nothing  to  increase  the  amount  of  timber,  stone, 
coal,  ore,  or  any  mineral  in  existence.  On  the  contrary,  he  is 
now  consuming  the  natural  supply  at  an  enormous  and  in- 
creasing rate. 

Perhaps,  taking  all  the  forests  in  the  world  into  account,  timber  is  grow- 
ing faster  than  it  is  consumed ;  but  there  is  no  useful  mineral  the  quantity 
of  which  is  known  to  be  increasing.     Some,  like  clay  and  limestone,  are 

ELEM.    ECON.    GEOG.— 6 


90  ECONOMIES   AND    ECONOMIC   SOCIETIES 

inexhaustible ;  some,  like  iron  ore,  will  lust  an  incalculably  long  time ; 
some,  like  coal,  can  be  used  up  in  a  few  thousand  years,  or,  like  petroleum, 
in  a  few  centuries.  It  is  possible  that  the  progress  of  scientific  knowledge 
will  discover  new  minerals  which  will  take  the  place  of  some  of  those  now 
in  use  and  liable  to  be  exhausted. 

Scientific  Manufacture  ^  and  Engineering.  —  The  useful  in- 
dustries or  mechanic  arts  are  of  recent  origin  and  are  practiced 
on  a  large  scale  only  among  advanced  peoples.  They  are  often 
called  technical  arts,  from  a  Greek  word  meaning  to  make,  be- 
cause they  deal  with  things  that  are  made.  They  depend  upon 
the  use  of  machinery  and  are  hence  mechanical.  They  involve  the 
exercise  of  human  skill  or  ingenuity  and  are,  therefore,  branches 
of  engineering.  In  some  countries  the  number  of  people  engaged 
in  manufacture  and  engineering  and  the  value  of  their  products 
exceed  the  number  and  value  belonging  to  all  other  occupations 
combined. 

Commerce  and  the  Professions.  —  In  civilized  communities 
there  are  large  numbers  of  people  who  produce  nothing  at  all 
visible  or  tangible,  yet  are  busy  and  necessary  to  the  community 
life.  These  include  (i)  merchants  of  all  kinds,  who  buy  and  sell 
goods,  (2)  people  engaged  as  carriers  in  transportation  of  pas- 
sengers and  freight,  (3)  bankers  and  brokers  who  deal  in  money 
and  securities,  (4)  lawyers,  physicians,  ministers,  teachers, 
journalists,  authors,  artists,  and  domestic  servants,  who  render 
highly  necessary  and  valuable  services  to  every  citizen. 

An  analysis  and  tabular  view  of  human  economies  is  given 
below : 

HUMAN  ECONOMIES 

I.    Collective. 

A.  Primitive,     i.  Plucking.    2.  Fishing.    3.  Hunting. 

B.  Scientific,     i.  Lumbering.     2.  Mining.     3.  Quarrying. 

1  Manufacture  (making  by  hand)  might  well  be  displaced  by  a  new  word, 
artifacture  (making  by  art).     All  manufactured  goods  are  artificial. 


ECONOMIC   TYPES  9I 

II.  Productive. 

A.  Agricullitrc.  i.  Hoe  culture.  2.  Garden  culture.  3.  Field  cul- 
ture. 4.  Plantation  culture.  5.  Horticulture.  6.  Forestry.  7.  Plant 
breeding. 

B.  Animal  Industry,     i.  Herding.     2.  Stock  breeding. 

III.  Constructive. 

A.  Manufaciurc.     i.  Domestic.     2.  Capitalistic. 

B.  Building. 

C.  Engineering.  i.  Mechanical.  2.  Chemical.  3.  Architectural. 
4.  Electrical.  5.  Hydraulic.  6.  Naval.  7.  Mining.  8.  Military.  9.  Civil. 
10.  Sanitary. 

IV.  Distributive. 

A.  Commerce. 

B.  Finance. 

C.  Transportation. 

D.  Communication. 

V.  Personal. 

A.  Domestic  Service. 

B.  Professional  Service,  i.  Medicine.  2.  Law.  3.  Politics.  4.  Edu- 
cation.    5.  Literature.    6.  Art.     7.  Religion.    8.  Army  and  Navy. 

Economic  Types.  —  The  various  communities  or  societies 
of  men  may  be  classified  according  to  their  prevailing  economy 
and  given  a  rank  corresponding  to  the  extent  and  efficiency 
with  which  they  utilize  the  natural  resources  of  the  earth. 

I.  Simple  Societies.  —  Societies  which  depend  upon  the  re- 
sources of  their  immediate  environment  and  are  independent  of 
foreign  trade  are  simple.  Their  wants  are  few  and  their  arts 
and  industries  are  rudimentary.  The  resources  of  their  envi- 
ronment are  limited  and  imperfectly  utilized.  They  are  self- 
supporting  and  usually  more  or  less  nomadic.  There  are  three 
types : 

1.  Societies  which  by  plucking,  fishing,  and  hunting  use  and  destroy 
natural  resources,  producing  nothing.  They  inhabit  the  cold  deserts, 
tundras  (Eskimos,  p.  17),  coniferous  forests,  and  equatorial  forests  (Amazon 
people,  p.  27). 

2.  Societies  which  produce  food  and  clothing  by  hoe  culture  combined 
with  collective  economy  or  herding.     They  inhabit  savannas,  tropical  islands 


92  ECONOMIES   AND    ECONOMIC    SOCIETIES 

(South  Sea  Islanders,  p.  19),  and  the  margins  of  warm  desert  and  forest 
(Pueblo  Indians,  p.  22). 

3.  Societies  whose  main  resource  is  domestic  animals.  They  inhabit 
steppes  (people  of  the  Steppe,  p.  32),  savannas,  and  tundras. 

II.  Complex  Societies.  — •  Societies  which  are  partly  self- 
supporting,  but  dependent  upon  other  societies  to  supply  a 
large  part  of  their  wants,  are  complex.  Their  wants  are  nu- 
merous and  varied,  and  their  arts,  industries,  and  commerce  are 
moderately  to  highly  developed.  Foreign  trade  is  essential. 
Their  own  resources  are  exploited  and  sometimes  fully  utilized. 
They  are  dependent  upon  one  another.  They  flourish  in  the 
temperate  forest  and  grasslands,  but  extend  their  enterprises 
to  all  parts  of  the  world.     There  are  four  types : 

1 .  Societies  which  produce  essentials,  such  as  foodstuffs  and  raw 
materials  at  home  and  obtain  very  limited  manufactured  luxuries 
by  trade.  Their  economies  are  chiefly  productive.  They  feed 
themselves.  Industry  is  almost  wholly  domestic.  Foreign  com- 
merce per  capita  is  small.     The  Chinese  are  the  best  example. 

2.  Societies  which  export  a  large  part  of  their  foodstuffs 
and  raw  materials,  and  import  most  of  their  manufactured  goods. 
When  agricultural,  they  have  a  large  excess  of  rural  over  urban 
population.  Their  economies  are  chiefly  productive  and  dis- 
tributive. They  feed  others.  Foreign  commerce  per  capita  is 
large.     They  are  young  and  sparsely  populated  countries,  often 

•European  colonies.     Austraha,  New  Zealand,  South  Africa,  and 
Argentina  are  examples. 

3.  Societies  which  import  most  of  their  foodstuffs  and  raw 
materials,  and  export  manufactures.  Their  economies  are  chiefly 
constructive  and  distributive.  Capitahstic  manufacture  and 
foreign  commerce  are  very  large.  They  are  fed  by  others.  They 
depend  chiefly  on  coal  and  iron  and  are  very  wealthy,  but  the 
sources  of  their  wealth  are  exhaustible.  The  urban  population 
greatly  exceeds  the  rural.  Great  Britain  and  Belgium  are 
examples. 


QUESTIONS  93 

4.  Societies  which  export  foodstuffs,  raw  materials,  and 
manufactures,  and  imj:)ort  chiefly  luxuries.  They  practice  all 
economies,  exploit  all  kinds  of  resources,  and  use  all  the  arts 
of  engineering.  Trade  and  commerce  are  extensive  and  varied. 
Their  economies  are  highly  developed  and  harmoniously  balanced. 
They  feed  and  are  fed.  The  rural  and  urban  populations 
are  nearly  balanced.  They  might  be  independent  but  ac- 
tually enjoy  the  resources  and  products  of  the  world,  and  their 
wealth  is  capable  of  indefinite  increase.  The  United  States  is 
the  best  example. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Make  a  list  of  all  the  different  kinds  of  economy  practiced  in  your 
community.     Which  are  the  most  general  and  important  ? 

2.  In  what  economies  is  the  largest  number  of  people  employed?     Why? 

3.  ]\Iake  a  list  of  the  names  of  some  of  the  most  prominent  people 
engaged  in  each  economy. 

4.  Which  economies  require  large  capital  ? 

5.  Which  economies  require  superior  education  and  ability? 

6.  By  which  economies  is  the  greatest  iiadividual  wealth  accumulated? 
Why? 


^     ^       C       I      F  "  I       C^    "  O 


PART   II 
ECONOMIC   GEOGRAPHY   OF  THE   UNITED   STATES 


CHAPTER   IX 
NATURAL  ECONOMIC   REGIONS   OF  THE  UNITED   STATES 

Location  and  Natural  Conditions.  —  The  continental  territory 
of  the  United  States  spans  the  north  temperate  zone  and  extends 
into  the  cold  temperate  zone  on  the  north  and  the  subtropical 
zone  on  the  south  (Fig.  17).  The  main  body  of  the  states  extends 
across  North  America  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  Pacific,  a 
distance  of  about  2500  miles,  and  from  the  Great  Lakes  and  the 
49th  parallel  to  the  Rio  Grande  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  1200  miles.  The  area  is  about  3,000,000  square 
miles,  or  nearly  as  large  as  that  of  the  continent  of  Europe.  The 
position  and  size  of  the  country  are  extremely  advantageous. 
Occupying  the  middle  latitudes  of  North  America,  it  covers  a  large 
portion  of  the  land  area  most  suitable  for  civilization  (pp.  50,  60, 
64,  92,  93,  Figs.  17, 18,  31,  32).  Bordering  upon  two  oceans,  on  the 
other  side  of  which  lie  the  populous  countries  of  Europe  and  Asia, 
it  can  be  neighborly  with  half  the  people  of  the  world.  It  includes 
a  great  variety  of  relief,  soil,  climate,  vegetation,  and  resources, 
and  can  produce  nearly  all  kinds  of  wealth  on  a  large  scale. 

Atlantic  and  Pacific  Divisions.  —  The  United  States  is  natu- 
rally divided  into  two  nearly  equal,  contrasted  portions.  The 
line  of  division  is  marked  approximately  by  the  looth  meridian. 
The  eastern  half  may  be  called  the  low,  humid  states ;  the  western 
half  the  high,  dry  states  (Figs.  29,  ;^t,,  35). 

The  eastern  or  Atlantic  division  is  a  plain,   broken   only   by 

95 


96 


NATURAL    ECONOMIC    REGIONS   OF    TIIK    UNITi:!)    STATES 


the  Appalachian  Highlands,  of  which  only  about  20,000  square 
miles  lie  more  than  2000  feet  above  the  sea.  It  is  almost  every- 
where smooth  enough  to  be  tilled  and  traversed  by  roads  and 
canals.     Beneath  the  surface  are  found  the  most  valuable  coal 


•.'|J»      3011       41)0      500 


Fig.    *o. 


Average  length  in  days  of  the  growing  season  in  the  Atlantic  division  of  the 
United  States. 


fields  yet  opened  in  the  world,  with  important  deposits  of  iron, 
lead,  zinc,  petroleum,  and  other  minerals.  In  the  rougher 
parts  water  power  is  abundant.  One  half  the  area  is  covered 
with  the  best  glacial  and  alluvial  soils.  The  rainfall  varies  from 
20  inches  in  the  northwest  to  60  inches  in  the  southeast  (Fig.  29), 
and  is  everywhere  sufficient  in  the  growing  season  for  agricul- 
ture without  irrigation  (Fig.  30). 


ISOTIIKRiMS 


97 


^^X^^- 


Fig.  31.  —  January  isotherms. 


Fig.  32.  —  July  isotherms. 


99 


ATLANTIC    AND    PACIFIC    DIVISIONS  lOI 

The  natural  vcgelalion  consists  chielly  of  summer  forest  and  prairie,  with 
smaller  areas  of  coniferous  forest  in  the  north,  on  the  highlands,  and  on 
sandy  soils  near  the  coast  (Fig.  6i).  The  Atlantic  coast  line  is  low  and 
indented  by  many  river  valleys,  which  admit  the  sea  far  into  the  land,  form- 
ing good  harbors  and  ports.  The  coast  faces  the  populous  and  highly 
civilized  countries  of  Europe,  which  can  be  reached  by  a  voyage  of  less 
than  a  week.  Its  southern  boundary  is  the  shore  of  "  the  American 
Mediterranean,"  where  the  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  wash  the  tropical 
shores  of  the  West  Indies,  JNIexico,  and  Central  and  South  America. 

The  western  or  Pacific  division  is  a  mountainous  plateau, 
nine  tenths  of  which  lies  above  2000  feet  in  height.  It  is  crossed 
from  north  to  south  by  the  Cordilleras,  consisting  of  the  Rocky 
Mountain  system  near  the  eastern  side,  and  the  Cascade,  Sierra 
Nevada,  and  Coast  Ranges  near  the  coast.  The  Great  Plains 
east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  the  lava  plateau  of  Oregon, 
Washington,  and  Idaho  are  relatively  smooth.  The  Colorado 
plateau  is  cut  by  profound  canyons,  and  the  Great  Basin,  ridged 
by  scores  of  mountain  ranges,  resembles  a  washboard.  The  only 
extensive  lowlands  are  the  valleys  of  California,  Puget  Sound, 
and  the  lower  Columbia  and  Colorado  rivers.  The  mountains 
are  rich  in  ores  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  lead,  making  this  one 
of  the  great  metal-producing  regions  of  the  world.  The  cHmate 
varies  greatly  with  elevation  but,  except  in  the  coastal  region, 
is  generally  severe.  The  highest  temperatures  in  North  America 
occur  in  southern  CaHfornia,  and  the  lowest  in  the  United  States 
in  Montana.  The  rainfall  is  generally  less  than  20  inches  and  in 
the  southwest  less  than  10  inches.  On  the  mountains  it  reaches 
30  inches  and  on  the  coast  north  of  CaHfornia  40  to  100  inches 
(Fig.  29).  The  coastal  rains  are  heaviest  in  winter,  and  in 
CaHfornia  the  summers  are  dry.     (See  Figs.  29,  31,  32,  2,^.) 

The  vegetation  consists  of  dense  coniferous  forest  on  the  mountains  and 
wet  lowlands  (Fig.  61),  steppe  on  the  plateaus  having  10  to  20  inches  of  rain, 
desert  where  the  rainfall  is  less  than  10  inches,  and  subtropical  dry  forest 
in  the  region  of  dry  summers.  The  Pacific  coast  is  high  and  rocky,  with 
few  harbors  and  only  three  large  identations,  San  Francisco  Bay,  the  lower 


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ECONOMIC    RIXJIONS 


103 


Columbia  River,  and  Piigcl  Sound.  TIk'  dcnsily  populated  countries  of 
China  and  Japan  lie  at  a  distance  of  1 5  or  20  days'  journey.  A  sail  of  10  or  15 
days  more  would  take  one  to  the  East  Indies,  Australia,  or  New  Zealand. 

The  relative  economic  value  of  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  divis- 
ions is  clearly  shown  in  Fig.  34.  The  contrast  between  the 
density  of  population,  or  number  of  people  which  each  division 
supports,  is  very  striking.  In  the  eastern  half  there  are  only 
a  few  patches  where  the  density  is  less  than  18  persons  to  the 
square  mile.  In  the  western  half  there  are  only  a  few  patches 
where  the  density  is  more  than  18  to  the  square  mile. 

Economic  Regions.  —  Agriculture,  stock  raising,  mining,  man- 
ufacture, and  trade  are  carried  on  to  some  extent  in  nearly  every 
part  of  the  United  States,  but  there  are  regions  in  which  some 
one  of  these  economies  assumes  larger  proportions  than  in  any 
other.  The  leading  crop  or  industry  varies  in  different  districts, 
and  it  is  possible  to  subdivide  the  country  into  any  desired 
number  of  economic  divisions.  This  has  been  done  as  far  as  con- 
venient for  the  purposes  of  this  book  on  the  map.  Fig.  35. 
'The  boundaries  are  not  really  sharp  and  definite  as  the  lines  in- 
dicate. Usually  no  difference  would  be  noticed  by  a  person  cross- 
ing any  of  them,  but  a  gradual  change  would  occur  within  some 


Land  area 

Population 

Natural  wealth  - 
Gross  wealth  .- 
Net  wealth 


Value  of  property f. 

Railway  mileage 

Foreign  commerce 

Imports 

Exports 


5,0 


4 


100 


0  lb  20  3?  40  50  60  70  80  90         100 

l~^  Middle  West  ^^  Eastern  States  pvrT!  Southern  States   rr^^Interior  States    Ml  Pacific  States 

Fig.  36.  —  Rank  of  economic  regions  in  area,  population,  wealth,  and  commerce.     (See 

Table  I,  Appenilix.) 


I04     NATURAL    ECONOMIC   REGIONS   OF   THE   UNITED   STATES 


PER  CENT 
POPULATION  0  10  2,0  3,0         40  5,0  60  70  8,0  9,0         IQO 

Rural  I  I  I  I     Urban 

UNITED  STATES 
Middle  West 
Eastern  States 
Southern  States. 
Interior  States 
Pacific  States 


UNITED  STATES 
Middle  West 
Eastern  States 
Southern  States 
Interior  States . . 
Pacific  States 


UNITED  STATES. 

Middle  West 
Eastern  States 
Southern  States 
Interior  States 
Pacific  States 

OCCUPATION 

UNITED  STATES 
Middle  West 
Eastern  States 
Southern  States 
.Interior  States 
Pacific  States 


Fig.  37- — -Rank  of  economic  regions  in  population  and  occupations. 

Appendix.) 


80         90         100 
(See  Table  II, 


miles  on  either  side  of  the  line.  The  United  States  is  a  politi- 
cal unit,  but  in  area  and  economic  character  the  states  differ 
among  themselves  as  much  as  the  countries  of  Europe.  Eco- 
nomic boundaries  do  not  always  correspond  with  state  lines,  but 
each  state  may  be  treated  as  belonging  to  the  region  in  which  its 
most  important  economy  would  place  it. 

Summary.  —  The  United  States  may  be  divided  into  natural 
regions,  or  groups  of  states,  in  each  of  which  the  general  economic 
conditions  are  uniform  and  are  different  from  those  in  other 
regions.     (See  Figs.  36,  37.) 


QUESTIONS  105 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  countries  in  the  world  arc  as  large  as  the  United  States,  or 
larger  ? 

2.  Do  any  of  them  have  a  long  coast  line  on  two  oceans? 

3.  Is  the  relief  of  any  as  varied  as  that  of  the  United  States? 

4.  What  countries  lie  in  the  same  latitudes  as  the  United  States?  in 
the  same  temperature  zones?     (See  Fig.  17.) 

5.  What  other  countries  have  large  areas  of  summer  forest,  coniferous 
forest,  prairie,  steppe,  and  desert  ?     (See  Fig.  18.) 

6.  What  other  countries  have  large  coal  fields?  (See  Fig.  2^.)  iron 
mines?  copper  mines?  (See  Fig.  25.)  gold  and  silver  mines?  (See  Fig. 
26.)     Has  any  other  country  all  of  these  ? 

7.  What  and  where  is  the  smallest  rainfall  in  the  eastern  half  of  the 
United  States  ?     (See  Fig.  29.)     What  and  where  is  the  largest  ? 

8.  Why  is  the  density  of  population  greater  in  that  part  of  the  United 
States  which  has  20  inches  or  more  rainfall  ?     (See  Figs.  2q,  34.) 

g.  How  does  the  density  of  population  in  that  part  of  the  United  States 
which  lies  above  2000  feet  compare  with  the  density  in  the  part  below  2000 
feet?     (See  Figs.  33,  34.) 

10.  How  do  you  account  for  the  density  of  population  along  much  of  the 
shore  of  both  oceans  and  of  the  Great  Lakes  ? 


CHAFFER   X 

THE    MIDDLE    WEST:     AGRICULTURE 

The  region  upon  which  the  people  of  the  United  States  depend 
chiefly  for  their  food  supply  may  be  regarded  as  the  foundation 
of  their  economy,  and  that  is  the  Middle  West.  The  natural 
boundary  on  the  east  is  the  Appalachian  Highland  and  on  the 
west  the  contour  line  ^  of  2000  feet,  the  limit  of  20  inches  of  rain- 
fall, and  the  margin  of  the  steppe,  all  of  which  lie  near  the  looth 
meridian  (Figs.  18,  29,  ;^2,).  The  natural  southern  boundary  is 
indefinite,  with  a  wide  belt  of  gradual  change  to  the  conditions 
of  the  Southern  States  region,  from  which  it  may  be  separated  by 
the  limit  of  7  months  without  frost  (Fig.  30).  On  the  north  it 
extends  to  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Dominion  of  Canada.  It 
includes  the  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Illinois,  Missouri, 
Iowa,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  South 
Dakota,  and  North  Dakota^  (Figs.  35,  56).  The  western  part  of 
the  last  four  states  named  forms  a  region  of  transition  or  gradual 
change  to  the  conditions  of  the  Interior  States.  The  area  of  the 
Middle  West  is  a  little  more  than  one  fourth  that  of  the  United 
States  and  its  population  more  than  one  third  (Fig.  36). 
Chicago,  the  metropolis  and  commercial  center,  is  equidistant 
(about  900  miles)  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard  and  the  Gulf  coast, 
and  about  twice  as  far  from  the  Pacific  coast. 

1  A  contour  line  on  a  map  represents  a  line  on  the  ground  which  is  everywhere 
at  the  same  height  above  the  sea,  in  this  case  2000  feet. 

"  These  correspond  to  the  North  Central  States  of  the  Census  Bureau  with  the 
addition  of  Kentucky,  which  is  a  transition  state  excluded  from  the  southern  group 
because  it  raises  no  cotton. 

106 


CLIMATI-:   AND    VEGETATION  107 

Relief,  Soil,  and  Drainage.  -  The  Middle  West  includes  lakes 
Michigan,  Superior,  Huron,  and  Eric,  which  form  a  great  inland 
sea,  connected  both  naturally  and  artificially  with  the  ocean. 
The  streams  flowing  into  these  lakes  are  short,  and  most  of  the 
region  is  drained  by  the  upper  Mississippi,  Ohio,  and  Missouri 
rivers,  which  furnish  a  waterway  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Be- 
tween North  Dakota  and  Minnesota  the  Red  River  flows  north- 
ward to  Lake  Winnipeg  and  Hudson  Bay. 

Two  thirds  of  the  land  is  covered  with  a  heavy  coat  of  glacial  drift  (Fig. 
33),  brought  by  successive  ice  sheets  from  the  north.  This  mass  of  mantle 
rock  was  removed  from  its  original  position,  thoroughly  ground  and  mixed, 
and  finally  plastered  over  the  bedrock  surface,  covering  up  most  of  its  ir- 
regularities. The  surface  of  the  drift  forms  a  smooth,  level,  or  undulating 
plain,  traversed  by  many  gentle  ridges  and  belts  of  low  hills.  It  is  very 
favorable  for  tillage  and  transportation,  and  the  drift  forms  a  soil  of  great 
depth  and  fertility.  The  unglaciated  portion  is  rougher,  and  in  southern 
Missouri  and  eastern  Kentucky  decidedly  hilly  and  rugged.  The  lands 
around  Lake  Superior  are  traversed  by  ranges  of  rocky  hills,  rich  in  iron 
and  copper. 

Climate  and  Vegetation.  —  Cyclonic  storms  bring  frequent 
and  great  changes  of  weather  (p.  60).  The  winters  are  in  most 
parts  severe,  but  the  summers  are  everywhere  long  and  warm 
enough  to  ripen  grain.  The  length  of  the  growing  season  varies 
from  four  to  seven  months  (Fig.  30).  The  rainfall  ranges  from 
50  inches  in  the  southeast  to  18  inches  in  the  northwest.  In  the 
drier  parts  most  of  the  rain  falls  in  the  growing  season  and  there 
is  moisture  enough  for  farming  without  irrigation.  The  belt  of 
coniferous  forest  (Fig.  18)  extends  into  northern  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota.  Ohio,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  and 
southern  Michigan  originally  supported  a  heavy  growth  of 
hardwood  timber.  West  of  Indiana  and  Lake  Michigan  trees 
were  few,  and  generally  confined  to  belts  along  the  streams 
(Fig.  61).  This  is  the  region  of  the  great  prairies,  the  richest 
grasslands  in  the  world. 


io8 


lill.    MIDDIJ',   WF.ST:   agriculture 


Agriculture.  In  nearly  every  part  of  the  Middle  West, 
the  relief,  soil,  and  climate  are  extremely  favorable  for  field 
culture. 

During  the  last  century  all  except  the  poorest  and  roughest  lands  have 
been  brought  under  cultivation.     This  required  the  removal  of  a  large  part 


Fig.  38.  —  Gang  plow  drawn  by  an  engine  on  the  level  prairie. 


of  the  forest,  itself  a  work  of  great  labor.  The  prairies  were  already  clear 
and  ready  for  the  plow  (Fig.  38),  but  lacked  materials  for  construction.  A 
population  large  enough  to  occupy  and  till  the  land  could  not  reach  it,  or 
be  supported  by  it,  without  means  of  transportation  for  people  and  goods, 
and  without  access  to  markets.  These  means  were  supplied  at  first  by  the 
Ohio,  Mississippi,  and  Missouri  rivers  and  their  tributaries,  later  by  canals, 
railroads,  and  the  Great  Lakes. 


CORN 


109 


The  proportion  of  improved  land  under  cultivation  for  crops 
and  pasture  is  as  high  as  82  per  cent  in  Iowa,  above  75  per  cent 
in  Illinois,  nearly  75  per  cent  in  Kansas,  Missouri,  Kentucky, 
Indiana,  and  Ohio,  and  46  per  cent  for  the  whole  region,  which 
includes  58  per  cent  of  all  the  improved  lands  of  the  United 
States  (Fig.  39).  The  products  are  nearly  all  foodstuffs.  They 
include  all  the  grains,  fruits,  and  vegetables  of  the  temperate 


Fig.  39.  —  Proportion  of  improved  land  in  farms  to  total  land  area,  igio. 

zone,  but  the  principal  crops  are  corn,  wheat,  oats,  and  hay. 
Stock  raising  is  an  essential  part  of  the  economy  and  much  of 
the  plant  growth  is  converted  into  pork,  beef,  mutton,  dairy 
foods,  fowls,  and  eggs.  Straw  used  for  paper  making,  hides  for 
leather,  wool  for  cloth,  and  some  other  items  not  eaten  may  be 
regarded  as  incidental  by-products. 

Corn.  —  The  first  European  settlers  found  the  American 
Indians  raising,  by  hoe  culture,  a  single  cereal,  and  called  it 
Indian  corn,  which  was  the  EngHsh  name  for  any  kind  of  grain. 
It  is  known  in  many  languages  as  maize.     Corn  is  a  large  species 

ELEM.    ECON.    GEOG. 7 


no 


THK   MIDDLK    WKST:    .\(;KrCULTURi; 


of  grass,  growing  soiiK'tiiiics  to  a  height  of  llflccii  feci.  Each 
stalk  may  bear  one,  two,  or  niore  ears,  containing  the  grains  in 
rows  upon  a  woody  stem  or  cob,  covered  with  tough  leaves  or 
husks.  The  skin  of  the  whole  plant  is  tough  enough  to  protect 
it  from  insect  enemies  and  it  is  subject  lo  few  diseases.  It  is  well 
adapted  to  new  and  uncleared  countries;  when  j)lanled  among 
stumps  or  dead  trees  it  will  produce  edible  food  in  shorter  time 
and  in  larger  quantity  than  an\  other  grain.  It  requires  frequent 
rain  in  the  spring,  a  hot  midsummer  with  bright  sunshine  and 
warm  nights,  and  a  cool,  dry  autumn  to  ripen.  It  is  not  profitable 
where  the  growing  season  is  less  than  four  months.  All  these 
conditions  })revail  in  the  highest  degree  in  the  American  corn  bell, 
which  extends  from  Ohio  lo  Kansas  and  from  Kenluck}-  to  Wis- 
consin (Fig.  40). 


Fic.  40.  —  Distribution  of  corn.     ICacli  dot  represents  100,000  bushels. 


Cultivation  and  Harvest.  —  Between  April  tirst  and  June  first,  according 
to  locality  and  season,  corn  is  planted  in  rows  three  or  four  feet  apart.  As 
soon  as  the  blades  appear  above  the  ground,  it  is  plowed  to  kill  weeds  and 
conserve  moisture.  This  is  done  by  a  two-horse  cultivator,  ridden  by  the 
driver,  and  is  repeated  until  the  stalks  are  half  grown.     One  man  and  team 


CULTIVATION   AND    HARVEST 


III 


can  plant  and  tend  forty  or  more  acres  of  corn.  By  July  the  corn  is  too 
large  to  cultivate  longer  and  in  September  the  leaves  begin  to  die  and  the 
kernels  to  harden.  The  ears  are  so  well  protected  by  husks  that  the  grain 
can  be  left  in  the  field  for  months  without  injury. 

Harvesting  is  still  largely  done  by  hand.  The  ears  are  picked  from  the 
standing  stalks  and  drawn  in  wagons  to  bins  having  a  tight  roof  but  sides 
with  many  openings  to  the  air.  Hand  i)icking  is  wasteful  of  fodder  and 
is  being  superseded  by  machines  which  cut  and  bind  the  stalks  into  bundles 


Fig.  41. — Cutting  corn   in   Illinois. 

(Fig.  41).  Often  the  stalks  are  cut  by  hand  and  set  up  in  shocks  to  dry 
(Frontispiece).  The  ears  were  formerly  husked  or  "  shucked  "  entirely  by 
hand,  the  work  being  continued  into  the  winter.  "  Husking  bees,"  attended 
by  all  the  people  of  the  neighborhood,  were  held  in  the  barns,  and  made  the 
occasion  of  feasting,  dancing,  and  social  festivity.  Many  farmers  now  use 
machines,  driven  by  gasoline  engines,  which  husk  the  ears,  and  tear  or  slice 
the  stalks  to  pieces.  ■  This  process  saves  and  makes  the  most  of  all  the 
fodder.  Unripe  stalks  and  ears  are  cut  and  packed  into  silos  so  closely  that 
they  do  not  spoil,  but  resemble  canned  vegetables.  Corn  thus  treated  is 
called  ensilage  and  is  fed  to  milch  cows  when  other  fresh  fodder  is  not 
procurable.  Even  in  localities  where  corn  does  not  ripen,  it  may  be  profit- 
ably grown  for  ensilage  and  the  green  grain  canned  for  the  table. 


112 


riii';  MiDhi.i;  wkst:  agriculture 


More  than  half  the  corn  crop  is  fed  on  the  farm  to  swine,  cattle,  poultry, 
and  horses  and  thus  converletl  into  meat  and  power.  Animals  fed  at  home 
help  to  maintain  the  fertility  of  the  land,  and  thus  the  corn-swine-cattle 
farm  is  one  of  the  most  efticient  food  factories  yet  devised.  The  proportion 
of  corn  sent  directly  to  market  varies  with  the  cost  of  transportation  from 
none  to  one  half.  It  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  starch,  sugar,  sirup,  beer, 
alcohol,  and  oil. 

Crop.  —  In  any  state  the  corn  crop  is  liable  to  vary  greatly 
from  year  to  year,  but  there  is  never  a  failure  in  all  the  states  in 


UNITED  STATES ^.672, 

0  100  200  300  400 

Iowa 

Illinois  .-- 
Nebraska 
Indiana 
Missouri 
Ohia 
Texas 
Kansas- 
Kentucky. 
Minnesota- 
Tennessee  ■ 
South  Dakota 
"Wisconsin    -- 
All  others 


804,000 


427,000 


0  100  200  300  400 

Fig.  42.  —  Production  of  corn  by  states  (1914)  in  millions  of  bushels.      (See  Table 

VI,  Appendix.) 

the  same  year.  Iowa  and  Illinois  usually  lead  in  corn  production 
(Fig.  42).  Corn  can  be  grown  throughout  the  Atlantic  division 
of  the  United  States  and  its  cultivation  is  increasing  in  the 
Southern  States,  but  of  the  total  corn  crop  of  about  3000  million 
bushels,  worth  1500  million  dollars,  the  Middle  West  produces 
71  per  cent  (Fig.  54).  It  is  the  most  valuable  crop  of  America 
and  it  is  practically  all  consumed  at  home.  The  grain  itself 
plays  a  relatively  small  part  in  domestic  or  foreign  commerce, 
but  corn-fed  animals  and  other  products  are  widely  distributed 
at  home  and  abroad. 

Influence  of  Corn  Culture.  —  Corn  culture  has  probably  done  more  to  in- 
crease the  grade  of  intelligence  among  farmers  than  any  other  branch 
of  agriculture.     Through  the  agency  of  the  agricultural  colleges,   "  corn 


WHEAT 


113 


schools  "  and  "corn  trains  "  travel  over  the  railroads,  giving  instruction  to 
all  who  will  assemble  at  the  stopping  places.  In  rural  schools  prizes  are 
offered  to  the  pupil  who  raises  the  best  crop  of  corn,  'i'he  farmer  has 
learned  that  it  pays  to  give  careful  attention  lo  the  selection  of  seed 
(Fig.  43),  to  fertilizers,  cultivation,  and  stock  feeding.  Corn  growing  has 
changed  from  the  haphazard  methods  of  the  squaw  to  a  highly  scientific 
business. 

World  Crop.  —  Corn  has  come  to  be  an  important  crop  in  nearly  all  parts 
of  the  temperate  and  warm  temperate  zones,  and  is  the  main  food  grown  even 
on  the  savannas  of  cen- 
tral and  southern  Africa. 
Argentina,  and  the  coun- 
tries of  southern  Europe, 
especially  Hungary,  Rou- 
mania,  and  Italy  produce 
the  largest  crops,  outside 
the  United  States,  amount- 
ing in  some  years  to  600 
million  bushels.  The  total 
world  production  ap- 
proaches 4000  millioi^ 
bushels,  which,  possibl\ 
excepting  rice,  is  the  largest 
single  crop.  Corn  is  a  rich , 
starchy  food,  differing  from 

other  grains  in  containing  an  oil  which  makes  it  less  palatable  and  more 
difficult  of  digestion.  Corn  flour  does  not  contain  enough  gluten  to  make 
a  sticky  dough  and  to  be  "  raised  "  by  yeast,  but  it  is  often  mixed  with 
wheat  flour  and  made  into  bread.  The  peasants  of  southern  Italy  live 
largely  upon  coarse,  corn-meal  mush.  In  Mexico  the  only  indispensable 
household  utensil  is  the  stone  upon  which  the  women  grind  the  daily  supply 
of  meal  for  "  tortillas,"  or  flat  cakes  baked  upon  the  hearth. 


Wheat.  —  The  plant  of  greatest  value  to  the  human  race  is 
the  species  of  grass  called  wheat.  It  has  been  domesticated  since 
prehistoric  times,  is  nov\^  grown  in  all  parts  of  the  world  where  the 
chmate  permits,  and  is  the  staple  foodstuff  of  advanced  peoples. 
It  is  easily  raised,  handled,  and  stored.  Flour  is  nutritious  and 
palatable,  and  can  be  made  into  a  variety  of  breads,  biscuits,  and 


114 


'I'm;  MiDDi.i;  wi.si' :  ackkti/itrI': 


pastes.  Hrcad  is  i  ailed  tin-  "  slalT  of  life,"  and  (he  word  is  often 
used  as  a  symbol  lor  food  in  general,  as  in  the  expression,  "  the 
struggle  for  bread."  Wheat  is  a  more  delicate  plant  than  corn  and 
is  liable  to  injury  from  insects  and  rusts. 

Wheat  is  grown  throughout  the  Middle  West  (Figs.  35,  44),  but 
in  the  corn  belt  it  is  a  secondary  crop.  The  wheat  belt  overlaps 
the  corn  belt  but  extends  farther  north.     It  is  the  leading  crop  of 


Fig.  44.  —  Distribution  of  wheat  and  flour-milling  centers. 


the  northwest,  where  the  growing  season  is  too  short  and  dry  for 
corn.  A  good  yield  requires  cool,  moist  weather  during  which 
the  plants  may  "  stool  out  "  or  form  many  seed-bearing  stalks. 
Warm,  dry  weather  for  ripening  and  harvesting  is  essential.  A 
clean  seed  bed,  rather  clayey  than  sandy,  compact  below  and  well 
pulverized  on  the  surface  is  required.  In  the  corn  belt  wheat  is 
sown  in  the  autumn,  makes  a  good  growth  of  leaves  before  winter, 
stools  out  in  the  spring,  and  is  harvested  in  early  summer.  Winter 
wheat  needs  a  permanent  covering  of  snow  to  prevent  repeated 
thawing  and  freezing,  which  heaves  the  roots  out  of  the  ground 
and   "  winter  kills  "    the  plants.     In   the   northwest  wheat  is 


WHKAT   A    \i:W    LAND    CROP 


115 


sown  as  early  in  the  spring  as  the  ground  thaws  and  harvested  in 
late  summer  (Fig.  35). 

Cultivation  and  Harvest.  —  Wheat  is  sown  with  horse  drills  having 
hollow  teeth  through  which  the  grain  is  deposited  in  shallow  furrows  about 
nine  inches  apart.  It  requires  no  cultivation  or  attention  until  mature. 
When  ripe,  machines  cut  and  bind  it  into  sheaves  which  are  set  up  in  shocks 
or  put  into  stacks  to  cure.     A  thrasher,  driven  by  a  steam    or   gasoline 


Fig.  45.  —  The  end  of 


larvcst  in  Illinois.     The  wheat  has  been  thrashed,  the  grain  sacked 
and  the  straw  piled  in  a  stack. 


engine,  separates  and  cleans  the  grain  and  piles  the  straw  by  itself.  One 
machine  may  thrash  1000  bushels  a  day  and  move  in  the  night  to  the  next 
field  or  farm.  The  grain  is  drawn  to  a  railroad  and  stored  in  elevators 
(Fig.  144)  built  for  the  purpose,  whence  it  is  shipped  to  mills  and  markets. 
A  crop  of  wheat  requires  little  hand  labor,  and  one  man,  with  help  at  harvest 
time,  can  raise  and  market  1000  bushels. 

Wheat  a  New  Land  Crop.  —  In  a  newly  settled  country  where  land  is 
cheap,  if  a  market  is  accessible,  wheat  is  one  of  the  best  money-making  crops. 
There  was  never  a  better  instance  of  this  than  in  the  Red  River  valley  of 
Minnesota,  North  Dakota,  and  Manitoba.  There  the  bed  of  a  glacial  lake, 
long  since  drained,  treeless  and  as  flat  as  a  floor,  with  a  rich,  loose  soil  free 
from  stones,  made  tillage  easy  and  a  crop  sure.  It  was  covered  with  wheat 
fields  for  thirty  years,  until  the  soil  was  exhausted  by  one-crop  farming. 
Now,  to  maintain  fertility,  other  crops  are  grown  in  rotation  and  cattle  are 
kept.     The  new  lands  of  the  Canadian  northwest  are  being  exploited  by 


ii6 


rilK   Mll)I)i>K    WKST:   AGRICULTURE 


the  same  one-crop  system,  and   will   maintain  the  world's  wheal   supply 
for  another  century. 

The  wheat  crop  of  the  United  States  varies  from  700  to  1000 
million  bushels  (Fig.  46;  Table  III,  Appendix),  of  which  about 
70  per  cent  is  grown  in  the  Middle  West. 

UNITED  STATES ...891.017.000 

p    10    20    30   40    50   60    70    80    90   100 


Kansas 

Month  Dakota  - 

Nebraska. 

Oklahoma 

Missouri 

Indiana 

Minnesota 

Washington — 

Ohio- 

South  Dakota - 


All  others" 


Fig.  46. 


177,200,000 

-  81.592.000 
.  68.116,000 
.  47,975.000 
.-i3,.333,000 

-  43.239.000 
..42.975.000 
-.41.840.000 
.-36.538.000 
.-31.566.000 


-276,643,000 


0 


10        20        30       40        50       60        70       80        90       100 
Production  of  wheat  by  states  (1914)  in  millions  of  bushels.     (See  Table  VI, 
Appendix.) 


World  Crop.  —  Wheat  is  above  all  others  the  staple  product  and  com- 
modity of  the  world.  Large  quantities  can  be  raised,  but  there  is  always  a 
demand  for  more.  People  go  without  it  only  because  they  cannot  get  it. 
The  equatorial  zone  is  impossible  for  wheat  except  in  India,  where  it  is  grown 
in  the  cool,  dry  winter  and  harvested  in  early  spring.  The  Mediterranean 
climate  of  dry  summers  is  ideal.  The  world's  wheat  belts  lie  along  the  pole- 
ward or  windward  margins  of  the  great  arid  regions  in  all  continents.  South- 
ern Europe,  Siberia,  India,  Argentina,  Australia,  the  United  States,  and 
Canada  furnish  examples.  The  world's  wheat  crop  is  nearly  4000  million 
bushels,  of  which  Europe  produces  one  half,  the  United  States  one  fifth,  and 
Asia  one  seventh.  The  leading  countries,  United  States,  Russia,  India, 
France,  and  Austria-Hungary,  produce  65  per  cent  of  the  whole.  The 
United  States  is  the  only  country  in  the  world  in  which  the  struggle  for 
bread  is  literally  and  wholly  successful.  Bread  is  on  every  table  at  every 
meal.  There  is  never  any  fear  of  famine,  and  hotels  and  restaurants  furnish 
it  with  other  food  without  charge. 

Distribution.  —  The  distribution  of  such  a  commodity  as  wheat 
is  of  especial  importance.  Old  and  densely  populated  countries, 
like  France  and  Italy,  may  raise  much  wheat  and  buy  more. 


OATS  117 

Young  and  sparsely  populated  countries,  like  Argentina  and 
Canada,  may  raise  much  to  sell.  Crops  and  surplus  vary  from 
year  to  year,  but  usually  Russia,  Argentina,  the  United  States, 
and  Canada  have  most  wheat  to  sell,  while  Great  Britain,  Ger- 
many, Belgium,  and  Italy  buy  most.  The  crops,  exports,  and 
imports  of  wheat  are  given  in  Table  VIII,  Appendix.  Manufac- 
turing countries  like  Great  Britain  and  Belgium  are  dependent  on 
foreign  countries  for  bread,  and  if  their  imports  were  cut  ofi  they 
would  suffer  from  hunger.  The  Black  Sea  countries  can  ship 
wheat  very  cheaply  by  water  to  the  great  markets  of  western 
Europe.  American  wheat  has  to  be  transported  about  1000 
miles  by  lake  boat  or  by  rail  to  reach  the  coast.  To  transport 
a  bushel  of  wheat  from  Duluth  to  New  York  costs,  by  rail,  12 
cents,  and  from  New  York  to  Liverpool  10  cents. 

Future  Supply.  —  The  law  that  population  tends  to  increase  faster  than 
food  supply  applies  especially  to  wheat.  Since  all  the  new  lands  of  the 
United  States  have  now  been  brought  under  cultivation,  there  cannot  be 
much  enlargement  of  the  wheat  belt.  The  discovery  of  new  varieties  makes 
it  possible  to  extend  wheat  fields  into  the  steppe  and  even  into  the  desert? 
but  such  expansion  is  quite  limited.  The  wheat  crop  may  be  greatly  in- 
creased by  better  farming.  The  present  average  yield  per  acre  in  the  United 
States  of  15  bushels  could  be  raised  to  the  Belgian  average  of  40  bushels, 
and  will  be  as  soon  as  the  demand  and  increased  price  make  it  profitable. 
That  will  not  take  place  until  the  new  wheatlands  are  occupied  and  have 
proved  insufficient  to  meet  the  increasing  demand.  For  the  immediate 
future  the  world  may  look  to  Canada,  Argentina,  and  Siberia  to  furnish 
bread  to  its  rapidly  growing  population. 

Oats.  —  Oats  are  adapted  to  a  cooler  and  moister  climate 
than  wheat,  and  are  an  invaluable  grain  in  regions  where  neither 
corn  nor  wheat  flourishes.  The  yield  per  acre  is  much  larger 
in  bulk  than  that  of  wheat,  but  the  weight  per  bushel  is  about 
half  as  great.  In  the  corn  belt  oats  are  the  third  crop  in  acreage 
and  second  in  total  yield.  They  are  sown  early  in  the  spring  before 
corn  planting,  require  no  attention  until  ripe,  and  are  har- 
vested after  the  period  of  corn  cultivation  and  usually  after  wheat 


ii8 


Till':  MiDDij-,  \vi;s'i':  A(;Ri(Ui;ruKK 


harvest.  The  same  machinery  and  methods  are  used  as  in  the 
case  of  wheat  (Fig.  47).  Oat  straw  is  softer  and  more  valuable 
for  fodder  than  wheat  straw.     Most  of  the  grain  is  fed  to  stock, 


especially  horses,  but  the  use  of  oatmeal  for  human  food  has,  in 
the  last  half  century,  become  quite  general.  In  food  value  it  ranks 
high,  but  is  more  difficult  to  mill,  cook,  and  digest  than  wheat 
flour.  The  crop  of  the  United  States  is  about  1400  million  bushels, 
of  which  80  per  cent  is  grown  in  the  Middle  West  (Table  III, 
Appendix).      Iowa  and  Illinois  are  the  leading  states  (Fig.  48). 


UNITED  STATES. 


.1,141.060.000 


Iowa  — 
Illinois 

Minnesota 

Nebraska 
North  Dakota 
Wisconsin 
Kansas 
Michigan 
Ohio 
Indiana 
South  Dakota 
New  York 
All  others 


50  100  150  200 

Fig.  48.  —  Production  of  oats,  by  states  (iQi.t),  in  millions  of  bushels.     'See  Table  VI, 

Appendix.) 


BARLEY  119 

World  Crop.  —  The  world's  (  roj)  of  oats  is  about  4600  million  bushels,  of 
which  the  combined  crop  of  Russia  and  (iermany  is  a  little  greater  than  that 
of  the  United  Slates.  Oats  are  of  great  importance  in  Ireland,  Scotland, 
Sweden,  Norway,  Canada,  and  the  European  rye  bell.  The  Scotch  peas- 
antry, noted  for  their  physical  and  mental  vigor,  have  been  until  recently 
nourished  largely  on  oatmeal. 

Rye.  —  Rye  is  closely  allied  to  wheat,  but  will  mature  on 
poorer  soil,  in  a  colder  climate,  and  with  less  careful  preparation 
of  the  ground.  In  the  United  States  it  is  not  now  an  important 
crop,  because  wheat  is  generally  more  profitable.  The  rye 
crop  of  40  million  bushels  is  about  two  per  cent  of  the  world's 
crop  ;  65  per  cent  of  the  United  States  crop  is  grown  in  the  Middle 
West  (Table  III,  Appendix).  Rye  is  often  used  as  a  source  of 
the  starch  from  which  whisky  is  manufactured. 

The  rye  belt  of  the  world  extends  across  Europe  from  the  North  Sea  to 
the  Ural  Mountains,  where  the  soil,  as  in  the  wheat  belt  of  the  United  States, 
is  of  glacial  origin.  While  the  soils  of  the  glacial  drift  of  the  United  States 
are  of  extraordinary  fertility,  those  of  Europe  are  sandy  and  poor.  Thus 
glaciation  in  the  one  case  determined  the  location  of  a  wheat  belt  and 
in  the  other  that  of  a  rye  belt.  The  masses  of  the  people  in  the  rye  belt 
eat  black  rye  bread,  which  is  nutritious  and  much  cheaper  than  wheat  bread. 
The  world's  crop  of  rye  is  about  1800  million  bushels,  of  which  Russia  and 
Germany  produce  five  sixths. 

Barley.  —  The  hardiest  of  the  cereals  and  the  one  adapted  to  the  widest 
range  of  conditions  is  barley.  It  endures  cold,  heat,  and  drought,  and  in  the 
old  world  is  raised  from  the  Arctic  shores  to  the  Sahara.  Around  the  Medi- 
terranean it  was  the  chief  grain  food  of  ancient  times.  Its  yield  is  much 
greater  than  that  of  wheat,  which  it  might  displace  as  a  breadstuff,  except 
for  the  fact  that  it  lacks  gluten  and  cannot  be  made  into  light  bread.  In 
dry  regions  it  is  a  good  substitute  for  corn  as  a  stock  food,  and  is  often 
cut  while  green  and  made  into  hay.  In  the  United  States  it  is  used  chiefly 
in  making  malt  for  beer.  The  barley  crop  of  the  United  States  is  over 
200  million  bushels,  of  which  the  Middle  West  produces  about  68  per  cent 
(Table  III,  Appendix).  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  and  the  Dakotas  raise 
more  apiece  than  any  other  state  except  Cahfornia.  The  world's  crop 
is  about  1 500  million  bushels,  of  which  Europe  produces  two  thirds. 


I20 


THE   MIDDLE   WEST:   AOKTCUETURE 


Potatoes.  -  Next  to  grain,  poUitocs  arc  the  hirgcst  food  crop 
throughout  cool  temperate  regions.  They  contain  little  nourish- 
ment besides  starch,  and  their  food  value  is  low.  They  may  sup- 
plenient  but  cannot  take  the  j)lace  of  breadstuff  s.  Thej^lant  origi- 
nated on  the  high  plateaus  of  the  Andes  and  does  not  maintain 
itself  in  a  warm  climate,  yet  its  range  extends  from  the  arctic 
circle  to  the  tropic.  It  will  grow  in  all  soils  except  heavy  clay. 
It  is  raised  in  the  corn  and  wheat  belts  for  local  supply,  but  is 
more  important  in  regions  too  cool  for  corn  and  too  sandy  for 
wheat. 


The  edible  potato  is  a  tuber,  or  enlarged  underground  stem  (not  root),  of 
which  there  are  many  varieties  differing  in  size,  color,  and  quality.  The 
tubers  (not  seed)  are  planted  in  early  spring  and  cultivated  like  corn,  the 
earth  being  finally  heaped  up  around  the  plant  to  form  "  a  hill."  When 
the  stalks  are  dead  the  tubers  are  dug  with  a  fork  or  hook  by  hand,  or  are 
plowed  out  with  horses.  Under  favorable  conditions  the  yield  is  200 
bushels  or  more  from  an  acre,  and  the  gathering  and  handling  of  the  crop 
involve  much  heavy  labor. 

Crop.  —  The  total  crop  varies  widely  from  year  to  year,  a 
surplus  cannot  be  kept  over,  and  the  bulk  and  weight  make 
transportation  expensive.  Consequently  the  price  of  potatoes 
and  the  grower's  profits  are  very  variable.  They  are  generally 
cheap  food  and  the  poor  man's  reliance.  The  crop  of  the 
United  States  averages  about  350  miUion  bushels,  half  of  which 


921,000 


Fig.  40. 


004,000 

0  10  20  30  40  50  60 

■Production  of  potatoes  by  states  (igi4)  in  millions  of  bushels.     (See  Table 
VI,  Appendix.) 


HAY  121 

is  produced  in  the  Middle  West  (Table  III,  Appendix).  Potatoes 
acquire  and  maintain  their  best  quaUties  in  certain  locaUties 
where,  in  consequence,  their  culture  has  become  a  special 
industry.  Western  New  York,  southern  Michigan,  Wisconsin, 
and  Minnesota,  Maine,  Pennsylvania,  and  eastern  Canada  are 
famous  (Fig.  49),  and  supply  seed  to  more  southern  states.  New 
varieties  are  produced  by  sowing  the  true  seed  from  the  seed 
pods  borne  on  the  stalks. 

The  greatest  potato-growing  region  of  the  world  covers  the  European 
rye  belt  from  Ireland  to  Russia,  where  the  crop  approximates  5000  million 
bushels.  In  Germany  60  million  bushels  of  potatoes  a  year  are  used  as  a 
source  of  alcohol  for  fuel.  This  is  an  ingenious  and  thrifty  method  of  utiliz- 
ing the  sun's  rays  for  power  in  latitude  54°. 

Hay.  —  The  poetic,  scriptural  expression  of  the  brevity  of 
animal  Hfe,  "  all  flesh  is  as  grass,"  may  be  matched  by  the  scien- 
tific statement,  "  all  flesh  is  grass."  In  the  history  of  the  earth, 
no  animals  superior  to  reptiles  existed  until  the  period  of  abundant 
grasses  arrived.  As  soon  as  grass  became  plentiful,  the  ancestors 
of  our  cattle,  horses,  swine,  sheep,  deer,  and  camels  appeared  and 
multipHed.  Natural  or  artificial  grasslands  are  now  the  homes  of 
all  the  world's  most  advanced  peoples.  To  what  extent  men  are 
dependent  upon  the  cereal  grasses  has  already  been  indicated. 
Grass  is  as  necessary  to  a  supply  of  meat  as  of  bread.  The  corn 
and  wheat  belts  of  the  United  States  are  also  a  hay  belt,  which 
produces  about  one  half  the  crop  (Table  III,  Appendix). 

In  mixed  farming  about  one  half  the  land  is  devoted  to  grass  each  year. 
A  part  of  it  is  pasture  for  summer  feed,  and  the  rest  is  meadow  where  hay 
is  made  for  winter  use.  Natural  pasture  or  meadow  is  made  up  of  many 
species  of  grass  and  other  herbs,  among  which  the  clovers  are  important.  In 
Indiana  and  Kentucky  blue-grass  pastures  are  famous  for  horses.  In  the 
usual  rotation  of  crops,  seeds  of  timothy  grass  and  red  clover  are  sown  on 
the  wheat  fields  in  the  spring.  The  young  plants  are  protected  by  the  wheat 
until  it  is  cut,  and  the  fields  thus  "  seeded  down  "  are  kept  in  grass  for  two 
or  three  years  before  they  are  again  plowed.  Millet,  Hungarian  grass, 
barley,  alfalfa,  and  other  species  are  sometimes  sown  to  cut  for  hay.     The 


122  'Jill';  MiDDi.i:  wKS'i":  A(;ki(Ui/ruRi-; 

straw  and  cornstalks,  which  arc  also  j^rasscs,  added  to  the  hay,  make  the 
bulk  of  fodder  produced  on  a  corn  hell  farm  very  lar^e,  and  render  live 
animals  and  meat  the  principal  output. 

Hay  is  cut  in  early  summer,  both  before  and  after  f^raiii  harvest.  Im- 
proved machinery  enables  the  farmer  to  cut,  cure,  and  slack  or  house  hay 
rapidly  and  with  little  or  no  hard  labor.  On  account  of  ils  bulk  hay  is  sel- 
dom shipped  far,  but  a  certain  i)ortion,  loose  or  baled,  is  sent  to  the  towns 
and  cities  to  feed  horses. 

Summary.  —  The  staple  food  crops  of  the  United  States  are 
corn,  wheat,  oats,  barley,  rye,  potatoes,  and  hay.  Of  the  cereal 
grains,  except  rice,  grown  in  the  United  States,  the  Middle  West 
produces  70  per  cent  and  of  potatoes  and  hay  about  one  half. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Why  is  the  region  discussed  in  Chapter  X  called  the  Middle  West  ? 

2.  Of  what  special  importance  is  the  rainfall  line  of  20  inches?  (See  Fig. 
29.) 

3.  What  peculiarities  of  surface  and  soil  in  the  Middle  West  make  large 
crops  possible? 

4.  What  factors  of  climate  in  the  Middle  West  are  favorable  for  food 
crops?  unfavorable? 

5.  How  do  the  winter  storms,  bringing  rain  and  snow,  affect  the  crops 
of  the  Middle  West  ? 

6.  If  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  were  dry  land,  what  difference  would  it  make 
to  the  Middle  West  ? 

7.  How  can  the  natural  superiority  of  the  Middle  West  as  an  agricultural 
region  be  accounted  for? 

8.  A  good  crop  of  corn  has  been  raised  in  Kansas  with  a  rainfall  of  only 
8  inches  in  one  year.     Explain. 

9.  Why  does  corn-growing  to-day  show  a  higher  stage  of  civilization  than 
when  it  was  done  by  the  squaws  ? 

10.  Why  do  most  people  prefer  while  bread  if  they  can  get  it  ? 

11.  Why  are  potatoes  sometimes  called  Irish  potatoes? 

12.  How  does  burning  alcohol  made  from  potatoes  utilize  the  sun's  rays 
for  power  ? 


CHAPTER   XI 
THE    MIDDLE    WEST:     STOCK   RAISING 

The  high  efficiency  of  agriculture  in  the  Middle  West  is  due  to 
the  combination  of  stock  raising  with  crop  growing.  The  grain 
and  bulky  forage  are  converted  into  power  to  run  the  farm 
machinery  for  tillage,  harvesting,  and  transportation,  and  are 
concentrated  into  meat  of  much  higher  value  per  pound  than  the 
fodder.  At  the  same  time  a  large  part  of  the  plant  food  con- 
sumed by  the  crops  is  returned  to  the  land  in  the  form  of  stable 
manure. 

Horses.  —  Among  animals  the  horse  has  been  most  highly 
prized.  On  account  of  his  speed,  strength,  and  docility  he  is 
equally  useful  as  a  pack,  draft,  or  riding  animal.  Horse  riders 
and  drivers  have  as  much  advantage  over  footmen  as  railroads 
and  automobiles  give  over  horse-drawn  vehicles.  The  horse 
acquires  his  best  qualities  in  the  steppe  (p.  t,^),  but  can  live  in 
almost  any  climate  where  grass  grows.  He  is  sensitive  to  the 
attacks  of  insects  and  is  excluded  by  them  from  some  parts  of 
Africa.  When  the  first  Europeans  landed  in  America  there  was 
not  a  horse  on  either  continent.  Horses  brought  by  the  Spaniards 
to  Mexico  escaped  from  the  settlements  and  ran  wild  for  300 
years.  The  21  million  horses  now  in  the  United  States  are  de- 
scended from  the  best  stock  imported  from  western  Europe. 
No  other  country  except  Russia  has  so  many.  More  than  half  of 
them  are  kept  in  the  Middle  West  (Table  III,  Appendix)  where 
horse  and  mule  breeding  is  the  special  industry  of  many  localities. 

Kentucky  is  famous  for  fine  horses  and  Missouri  for  mules.  Although 
displaced  to  some  extent  by  gasoline  and  electric  motor  cars,  the  horse  will 

123 


124 


THK   MIDDLK   WKST:    STOCK    RAISING 


probably  never  be  dispensed  with.  He  may  be  excluded  from  cities  for 
sanitary  reasons.  For  general  working  purposes  the  mule  is  a  better  animal, 
but  the  beauty,  intelligence,  and  spirit  of  the  horse  make  him  an  aristocrat 
admired  and  loved  by  men. 

Cattle.  -  The  most  generally  useful  of  domestic  animals  are 
the  various  species  of  cattle.  For  flesh,  milk,  and  hides  they  are 
superior  to  all  others,  and  as  beasts  of  burden  and  draft  fill  places 
that  no  others  can. 

The  carabao,  or  water  buffalo,  is  as  nicely  adapted  to  tropical  jungles 
and  marshes  as  the  camel  to  the  desert.  The  yak  is  the  animal  depended 
upon  for  milk  and  transportation  on  the  high  plateaus  and  mountains  of 
Central  Asia.  The  zebus,  or  humped  cattle  of  India,  are  more  numerous 
than  any  other  species,  and  because  they  furnish  the  principal  means  of 
subsistence  are  regarded  as  sacred.  The  native  American  species  of  the 
family  is  the  bison  or  buffalo,  which  once  wandered  over  the  prairie  and  steppe 
in  immense  herds,  but  is  now  nearly  extinct. 

Cattle  raising  is  the  special  and  almost  exclusive  industry  of 
the  steppe,  but  a  productive  farm  can  support  ten  times  as  many 


Fig.  50.  —  Distnbution  of  neat  cattle,  and  meat  packing  centers. 


DAIRYING 


125 


animals  to  the  acre  as  a  ranch.  Consequently  45  per  cent  of  the 
56  million  cattle  of  the  United  States  are  found  in  the  Middle 
West.  The  farmers  buy  many  young  cattle  from  the  ranchmen, 
fatten  them  through  a  winter,  and  sell  them  at  a  handsome 
profit.  This  is  especially  the  case  in  Texas,  Iowa,  Missouri, 
Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Oklahoma  (Fig.  50). 

Dairying,  — •  The  characteristic  cattle  industry  of  the  region  is 
dairying.     While  the  Middle  Western  states  have  eastern  rivals 


UNITED  STATES $274,558,000 

0  10  20  30  40  '    50  60 


Wisconsin 

New  York 

Iowa_ 

Minnesota 

Illinois 

Michigan 

Pennsylvania 

California 

All  others 


Fig.  51. 


53.843.000 
42.458.000 
25.849.000 
25.287,000 
17,798,000 
J4,287,000 
13,544.000 
12,761.000 

! 68.731,000 

10  20  30  40  50  60 

Value  of  butter,  cheesi;,  and  condensed  milk,  manufactured  by  states  (igog). 


in  the  dairy  industry  none  quite  equals  Wisconsin  (Fig.  51). 
This  is  largely  due  to  the  efforts  of  the  School  of  Agriculture  at 
the  State  University,  which  has  educated  the  farmers  to  a  high 
degree  of  scientific  intelligence  and  practice.  The  state  has  a 
million  and  a  half  of  cows  and  about  3000  creameries  and  cheese 
factories  for  handling  their  product. 

Milk  is  a  perfect  food  but  difficult  to  preserve  from  contamination  and 
spoiling.  It  must  be  used  fresh  within  about  thirty-six  hours,  or  converted 
into  some  other  form.  In  regions  far  from  great  cities  nearly  all  of  it  is  made 
into  butter  and  cheese.  These  processes,  once  carried  on  in  every  rural 
household,  are  now  more  efficiently  performed  in  creameries  and  factories, 
where  the  farmer  delivers  his  milk  every  day.  A  high-grade  cow,  fed  upon 
hay,  grain,  and  ensilage,  will  yield  her  own  weight  of  butter,  or  twenty  times 
her  own  weight  of  milk  in  a  year.  Butter  making  has  become  a  highly 
scientific  process.  An  instrument  for  testing  the  amount  of  butter  fat  in 
milk  determines  its  value  when  sold,  and  the  cream  is  separated  by  a 
machine  in  a  few  minutes.     A  great  deal  of  milk  is  evaporated,  condensed, 

ELEM.   ECON.    GEOG. 8 


126  THE   MIDDLE   \Vi;ST  :   STOCK    RAISING 


Fig.  52.  —Bottling  milk  in  an  Uliuuia  dairy. 


Fig.  Si-  —  Distribution  of  swine. 


POULTRY  127 

and  canned  to  be  sent  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  Dairying  (Figs. 
52,  55)  is  a  branch  of  intensive,  scientific  farming,  which  yields  a  good 
profit  on  small  farms  by  increase  of  labor  expended. 

Holland,  northern  France,  Germany,  Denmark,  Sweden,  and 
Switzerland  are  famous  dairy  countries  of  Europe. 

Swine.  —  The  wild  hog  is  a  forest  animal  (p.  ^S)  living  upon 
nuts,  roots,  grubs,  snakes,  and  other  concentrated  food.  He  will 
eat  almost  anything ;  hence  when  domesticated  he  is  the  poor 
man's  animal,  producing  from  garbage  and  forage  toothsome 
and  nutritious  meat.  When  fed  on  grain  he  will  grow  and  multi- 
ply faster  than  any  other  domestic  animal.  The  corn  belt  of 
the  Middle  West  (Figs.  40,  53)  raises  twice  as  many  hogs  as  any 
country  in  the  world  outside  the  United  States  except  Germany. 
Iowa  alone  contains  nearly  9  millions  and  the  whole  region  40 
millions  (Table  VI,  Appendix.) 

On  a  farm  of  moderate  size  ten  litters  of  a  dozen  pigs  each,  born  in  the 
spring,  are  able  by  midsummer  to  live  on  the  scattered  grain  of  the  wheat 
and  oat  fields.  Fed  through  the  autumn  on  the  new  corn,  at  the  end  of  the 
year,  after  the  happiest  life  possible  for  pigs,  they  will  aggregate  ten  tons 
of  pork.  There  is  no  more  efficient  organism  for  converting  vegetable  into 
animal  food.  Pigs  are  sometimes  fed  on  clover  or  alfalfa ;  these  produce 
less  fat  and  more  lean  in  the  meat  than  corn.  In  northern  Europe  barley 
and  sugar-beet  pulp  take  the  place  of  corn  in  fattening  swine. 

Sheep.  —  Of  the  51  million  sheep  kept  in  the  United  States, 
29  per  cent  are  in  the  Middle  West.  Yet  sheep  raising  in  that 
region  is  relatively  subordinate  to  other  farm  economies.  There- 
fore, it  will  be  more  fully  discussed  in  connection  with  the  Interior 
States  (p.  314). 

Poultry.  —  Of  all  domestic  animals  poultry  are  the  most 
numerous,  profitable,  and  widely  distributed.  There  is  hardly 
a  country  in  the  world  outside  the  polar  caps  where  the  common 
fowl  is  not  known  and  where  eggs  are  not  a  common  article  of 
diet.     Fowls  are  kept  in  towns  and  cities  by  all  sorts  of  people, 


128 


THK    MIDDI.K   WEST:   STOCK    RAISING 


and  on  farms  they  arc  a  source  of  incidental  income  without  much 
care  or  cost.  Like  swine  they  are  omnivorous  and  in  summer 
find  an  easy  Hving  on  garbage,  scattered  grain,  fallen  fruit,  in- 
sects, worms,  weeds,  and  grass. 

Beauty  is  a  notable  element  in  their  value,  and  poultry  fanciers  have 
bred  many  varieties,  differing  in  form,  color,  and  ornamentation,  as  well  as 
in  egg-laying  ability.  Poultry  raising  as  a  special  industry  has  been  pro- 
moted by  the  use  of  the  incubator,  which  hatches  eggs  by  artificial  heat,  and 
the  brooding  hen  is  dispensed  with.  Chicken  is  generally  the  most  costly 
meat  in  a  bill  of  fare.  Provided  by  nature  for  the  nourishment  of  the  young 
bird,  eggs  are,  like  milk,  a  complete  food,  but  difficult  to  transport  and  to 
preserve.  They  may  be  kept  in  cold  storage  for  months,  and  dried  eggs  are 
said  to  be  a  commercial  possibiHty. 

Of  the  1600  million  dozen  eggs  and  500  million  fowls  produced  annually 
in  the  United  States  the  Middle  West  is  credited  with  about  one  half.  The 
corn  states,  Missouri,  Illinois,  Ohio,  and  Iowa  are  leaders  in  the  poultry 
business.  The  crowded  and  intensive  farming  of  China  produces  enormous 
but  unknown  quantities  of  poultry  and  eggs.  Great  Britain  imports  200 
million  dozen  eggs  a  year.  When  the  value  to  mankind  of  this  humble 
bird  is  considered,  the  act  of  the  man  who,  after  a  trip  around  the  world, 
came  home  and  took  off  his  hat  to  the  old  hen,  does  not  seem  foolish. 


UNITED  STATES 0  1 

Oats 

Corn 

Wheat 

Barley 

Rye 

Animals  sold  and  slaughtered 

Swine    

Horses 

Fowl  and  eggs 

Tobacco  

Milch  cows 

Potatoes 

Hay 

Dairy  products 

Neat  cattle 

All  crops 

All  animal  products 

All  farm  products 

All  farm  property 

Improved  land 


PER  CENT 

0  20  30  40  50  60  70  80  90         100 


Fig.  54. 


0  10  20         30        40  50 

Rank  of  Middle  West  in  products  of  agriculture. 


60  70         80  90         100 

(See  Table  III,  Appendix.) 


THE   FARM   AND   FARM   LIFE  1 29 

Summary.  —  The  most  important  large  domestic  animals  of 
the  United  States  are  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  and  swine.  The  whole 
number  of  these  is  about  200  millions,  of  which  45  per  cent  are 
found  in  the  Middle  West. 

The  Farm  and  Farm  Life.  —  Farms  in  the  Middle  West  vary 
greatly  in  size  but  average  about  160  acres.  The  land  is  surveyed 
into  sections,  each  one  mile  square  and  containing  640  acres. 
The  sections  are  divided  into  quarters  so  that  a  square  tract  of 
160  acres  is  common.  The  highways  usually  run  along  the 
section  lines,  and  each  quarter  has  a  pubHc  road  on  two  sides. 
A  few  acres  near  the  road  are  occupied  by  buildings,  stockyards, 
orchard,  and  garden.  The  rest  of  the  farm  is  divided  into  fields 
of  20  to  40  acres,  alternately  devoted  to  grass,  corn,  wheat, 
and  oats,  with  smaller  fields  of  potatoes  or  other  crops.  The  old- 
fashioned  rail  fences  have  nearly  disappeared,  and  the  fields 
are  inclosed  with  woven  wire  supported  upon  concrete  posts. 
Except  on  the  prairies  there  is  generally  a  small  wood  lot,  and 
many  trees  protect  the  house  from  sun  and  storm. 

Log  houses  (p.  39)  are  rare  and  the  farmhouse  is  generally  of  wood,  two 
stories  high,  framed,  clapboarded,  and  painted.  It  looks  small  as  compared 
with  the  size  of  the  other  buildings.  The  grain  barn  may  have  a  floor  space 
of  40  by  80  feet,  with  wide  doorways  for  driving  in  with  loads  of  grain  and 
hay.  The  bays  and  lofts  on  either  side  are  filled  in  midsummer  to  the  roof. 
The  floor  is  often  raised  on  a  stone  wall  which  incloses  a  basement,  opening 
upon  a  barnyard  with  its  stack  of  straw,  where  stock  find  a  warm  shelter  in 
winter.  At  the  side  of  the  barn  is  a  silo  (Fig.  55),  and  not  far  away  are 
horse  stables,  sheds  for  implements,  corn  cribs,  pig  pens,  and  poultry  houses. 
A  windmill  pumps  water  from  a  well,  or  it  may  have  been  displaced  by  a 
gasoline  engine,  which  is  also  used  to  run  a  corn  shredder,  a  feed  cutter,  or  a 
thrashing  machine. 

The  work  may  be  done  by  the  farmer  and  his  son  or  one  hired 
man  with  extra  help  at  harvest  time.  In  the  growing  season 
the  day's  work  is  long,  from  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  six 
or  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening ;   but  in  the  winter  the  principal 


i.^o 


THK    MIDDI.K    WKST  :    STOCK    RATS  IMG 


Fig.  55.  —  Barns,  staljles,  and  silo  on  a  dairy  farm. 


work  is  the  feeding  and  care  of  stock,  and  there  is  leisure  for 
rest  and  recreation.  The  home  is  comfortably  or  even  luxuriously 
furnished,  and  the  table  is  loaded  with  good  food,  much  of  which 
comes  directly  from  the  farm  itself. 

While  life  on  a  farm  is  laborious,  much  of  its  drudgery  has  been  done 
away  with.  The  work  in  the  open  air  is  healthful,  and  the  standard  of  living 
is  much  above  the  average  of  the  city.  The  postman  brings  mail  daily 
and  electric  cars  may  pass  the  door  every  hour.  There  are  horses  and 
carriages,  and  in  recent  years  automobiles  have  nearly  put  an  end  to  the 
isolation  and  loneliness  of  farm  life.  Good  schools  are  accessible,  and  news- 
papers and  magazines  are  as  plentiful  as  may  be  desired.  The  farmer 
need  not  be  an  ignorant  person  because  he  has  unusual  opportunity  and 
encouragement  to  be  intelligent  and  thoughtful.  In  a  region  of  severe 
winters,  good  housing  and  food  must  be  provided  for  family  and  herds. 
Every  day  calls  for  foresight,  care,  and  attention,  and  the  shiftless  farmer  is 
likely  to  be  a  failure. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Compare  the  body  and  legs  of  a  horse  with  those  of  an  ox  and  find  out 
why  one  is  a  better  traveler  than  the  other. 

2.  What  are  some  of  the  leading  breeds  of  horses  and  cattle?  What  are 
the  good  qualities  of  each  ? 


QUESTIONS  131 

3.  What  makes  some  horses  worth  from  $1000  to  $20,000  apiece? 

4.  Why  should  a  perfect  farm  fence  be  "  horse  high,  hull  strong,  and  pig 
tight"? 

5.  What  are  some  of  the  leading  varieties  of  the  common  fowl  and  for 
what  is  each  noted  ? 

6.  How  many  eggs  do  some  of  the  best  layers  produce  in  a  year?     What 
makes  a  single  fowl  sometimes  sell  for  $100? 

7.  What  are  some  of  the  advantages  of  farm  Hfe  as  compared  with  city 
Hfe?     some  of  the  disadvantages? 

8.  How  are  all  the  other  industries  of  a  region  dependent  upon  farming? 

9.  How  could  a  country  or  community  with  no  farmers  maintain  itself? 

10.  Which  is  likely  to  change  more  rapidly,  a  community  of  farmers  or  one 
of  city  people?     Why? 


CHAPTER   XII 
THE    MIDDLE   WEST  :  MANUFACTURES 

Development  of  Industry.  —  Agriculture  is  a  primitive,  nat- 
ural occupation,  more  congenial  to  most  people  than  the  arti- 
ficial and  unnatural  work  of  manufacturing.  The  farmer  works 
for  himself  and  has  many  intervals  and  periods  of  idleness. 
Manufacture  requires  mostly  work  for  others  six  or  seven 
days  in  the  week  and  every  week  in  the  year.  As  long  as  land 
is  plentiful  and  cheap,  people  are  drawn  to  the  relatively  free, 
spacious,  and  bountiful  life  of  the  farm.  While  the  Middle  West 
was  being  settled  and  brought  under  the  plow,  manufactures 
were  small  and  local,  providing  breadstuffs,  lumber,  vehicles,  and 
furniture  for  the  immediate  neighborhood.  As  the  population 
increased  and  the  land  became  more  completely  occupied  and 
utilized,  it  rose  in  value  and  could  no  longer  be  paid  for  by  the 
crops  of  a  few  years. 

The  invention  of  machines  made  it  possible  for  one  man 
to  do  the  work  which  once  required  three  or  four.  Half  the 
rural  population  was  thus  left  without  work.  At  the  same  time 
the  quantity  of  foodstuffs  to  be  prepared  for  consumption  and 
distribution  to  distant  markets  enormously  increased.  The 
demand  for  clothing,  furniture,  building  materials,  tools,  ma- 
chinery, vehicles,  and  luxuries  was  limited  only  by  the  means  to 
pay  for  them.  The  resources  of  power  in  the  coal  fields  and  of 
constructive  materials  in  the  forests  and  iron  mines  attracted 
capital,  and  the  change  from  an  almost  purely  agricultural  com- 
munity to  one  of  great  industrial  activity  was  rapid.  The 
surplus  population  of  the  farms  went  to  the  towns  to  work  in 

132 


SOURCES  OF   POWER  1 33 

stores,  shops,  factories,  and  mills,  or  on  the  railroads.  This 
supply  of  labor  was  not  sufficient,  but  the  influx  of  milUons 
of  immigrants  from  Europe  made  the  city  population  increase 
from  23  per  cent  in  1880  to  43  per  cent  in  1910,'  and  the  total 
annual  value  of  manufactures  to  become  twice  as  great  as  that 
of  agricultural  products  (Tabbs  III,  V,  Appendix). 

Manufactures.  —  The  Middle  West  can  supply  nearly  all  the 
wants  of  a  civilized  community  except  clothing,  for  which  it 
produces  no  cotton  or  linen,  and  httle  wool,  but  many  hides. 
Besides  vast  quantities  of  raw  material  for  manufacture  there 
is  plenty  of  coal  for  metal  working  and  power.  The  smoothness 
of  the  surface  makes  railroad  construction  easy  and  the  Lauren- 
tian  lakes  aft'ord  a  waterway  second  in  value  only  to  the  sea. 
There  are  few  flrst-class  agricultural  regions  in  the  world  where 
manufacturing  attains  such  proportions.  The  quantity  of  power 
used  is  30  per  cent  and  the  value  of  goods  manufactured  is  35  per 
cent  of  the  total  for  the  United  States.  Among  all  the  states, 
Illinois  and  Ohio  are  second  only  to  New  York  and  Pennsyl- 
vania in  value  of  manufactures.  Middle  Western  manufacture 
is  notable  for  being  based  almost  wholly  upon  its  own  raw 
materials. 

Sources  of  Power.  —  Four  fifths  of  the  power  used  in  Middle 
Western  manufacture  is  derived  from  coal.  Most  of  this  is 
bituminous,  or  soft  coal,  of  which  about  150  million  tons  are  mined 
there  annually.  Of  this  nearly  one  fourth  comes  from  the 
Appalachian  field  in  Ohio  (Fig.  96),  and  three  fifths  from  the 
Eastern  Interior  field  in  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Kentucky  (p.  194). 
The  Western  Interior  and  Michigan  fields  supply  the  remainder. 
Besides  the  coal  mined  at  home,  a  great  deal  is  brought  in  from 
Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia,  including  coke  and  anthracite, 
or  hard  coal.  Illinois  and  Ohio  are  second  only  to  those  states 
in  amount  of  coal  mined  (Fig.  93). 

'Between  1880  and  iqio  the  rural  population  increased  less  than  25  per  cent, 
the  urban  population  216  per  cent. 


136 


'llll.    MIDDI.I.    WI.S'P:    AIAXUFACTURKS 


Water  Power.  The  aniount  of  walcr  jjowcr  used  in  Ihe  Middle 
West  is  comparatively  trifling  but  is  increasing.  Water  power  de- 
pends upon  the  sea  as  a  reservoir,  the  heat  of  the  sun  to  evapo- 
rate the  water,  winds  to  carry  the  vapor  over  the  land,  and 
highlands  to  condense  the  vapor  into  rain  and  to  give  the  water 
which  runs  off  a  rapid  fall.  The  rainfall  and  run-off  of  the  Middle 
West  are  ample,  but  the  absence  of  highlands  makes  most  of  the 
streams  unavailable  for  power  purposes.  This  is  partly  com- 
pensated by  the  effects  of  glaciation,  which  compelled  many 
streams  to  take  new  courses  over  rapids  and  cataracts,  and  left 
innumerable  lakes  to  act  as  reservoirs,  in  which  water  is  stored 
and  from  which  it  is  given  out  during  a  dry  season. 


The  mosl  important  water  powers  of  the  Middle  West  are  at  Minneapolis 
and  Keokuk.  The  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  in  the  Mississippi  River,  originally 
about  20  feet  high,  have  been  used  to  run  flour  mills  for  a  century,  and 
the  city  of  Minneapolis  has  grown  up  around  them.  About  1878  the  natural 
fall  was  improved  by  a  dam,  and  the  50,000  horse  power  now  available  is 
used  to  run  the  largest  flouring  mills  in  the  world.  In  the  Des  Moines 
rapids  the  Mississippi,  turned  into  a  new  channel  by  the  continental  ice 
sheet,  faUs  23  feet  in  12  miles.  At  the  foot  of  the  rapids  opposite  the 
city  of  Keokuk,  Iowa,  a  dam  completed  in  1914,  about  a  mile  long 
and  35  feet  high,  gives  300,000  horse  power,  which  will  be  used  to 
generate  electricity,  and  in  that  form  sent  to  St.  Louis,  137  miles  distant, 
and  to  other  cities. 

UNITED  STATES - 61,980.437 


20 


40 


Minnesota. 
Michigan  _- 
Alabama  __ 
New  York  _ 
Wisconsin . 
All  others . . 


658,793 
841,093 
215,740 
459,628 
018,272 
786,911 


Fig.  57. 


Production  of  iron  ore  by  states  (1913)  in  millions  of  long  tons. 
(See  Table  IV,  Appendix.) 


Iron.  —  Of  equal  importance  with  coal  in  manufacture  is 
iron  for  machinery,  buildings,  railroads,  vehicles,  and  vessels. 
In  this  resource  the  Middle  West  (Fig.   57)  is  favored  above 


IRON 


137 


all  other  parts  of  the 
country,  and  has  few 
equals  in  the  world. 
The  old,  worn-down 
highland  around  Lake 
Superior,  in  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,  and  Min- 
nesota, contains  six 
"  ranges  "  or  belts  of 
iron  ore  which  is  rich 
in  metal  and  free  from 
troublesome  impurities 
(Fig.  60). 

In  the  Mesabi  range  in 
Minnesota  the  ore  is  ex- 
cavated in  open  pits  with 
steam  shovels  (Fig.  58), 
which  load  it  upon  cars.  The  cost 
Lake  Superior  mines  furnish  85  per 


YEAR 
1880       1890      1900      1910 


500 


/ 

1 

< 

/ 

/ 

t 

) 

.^ 

y 

Y 

( 

,A 

'-"1^ 

\^^- 

y 

0 
1860      1870      1880      i8yO      lyUO      1910     1920 

Fig.  59.  —  Production  of  iron  ore,  pig 
iron,  and  steel  in  LTnited  States  (1860- 
1913)- 


Fig.  58.  — Iron  mine,  Minnesota. 

of  mining  in  this  way  is  small.  The 
cent  of  all  the  iron  ore  mined  in  the 
United  States  and  have  given  this 
country  the  lead  among  nations  in 
the  production  of  iron  and  steel  (Fig. 
59).  The  ore  is  transported  to  the 
coal  fields  in  specially  built  steamers 
on  the  Great  Lakes,  and  is  discharged 
at  Milwaukee,  Chicago,  and  Gary  on 
Lake  Michigan,  and  at  Cleveland 
and  many  other  lake  ports  from 
Toledo  to  Buffalo.  It  is  distributed 
by  rail  throughout  eastern  Ohio, 
western  Pennsylvania,  and  northern 
West  Virginia.  The  ore  is  handled 
by  machinery  with  great  rapidity 
and  at  small  cost.  Where  coal  and 
ore  are  thus  brought  together, 
great  iron  manufacturing  districts 
have   grown  up  around   Pittsburgh, 


138 


Tin:    MIDDIJ'    WKST:    MANUFACTURES 


Cleveland,  and  Chicago.  Tlu'  greater  part  of  the  Pittsburgh  district  is 
in  I'ennsylvania,  but  40  per  cent  of  the  [)ig  iron  and  steel  made  in  the 
United  Slates  is  produced  in  the  Middle  West.  Chicago  ranks  first  among 
cities  in  blast  furnace  products  and  Youngslown,  Ohio,  second  in  pig  iron 
and  steel. 

Other  Metals.  —  Among  metals,  copper,  lead,  and  zinc  rank 
next  to  iron  in  importance,  and  the  Middle  West  has  an  ample 

store    of    all    three.       In    the 


Ah,    ltW.„  J 


+  /,„„ 


_^^^.vMJ'     ^^ 


Keweenaw  peninsula  on  the 
Michigan  shore  of  Lake  Su- 
perior, deposits  of  metallic 
copper  in  volcanic  rock  have 
been  worked  for  more  than 
half  a  century  (Fig.  60) .  The 
mines,  now  nearly  one  mile 
deep,  yield  nearly  one  ninth 
of  all  the  copper  produced  in  the  United  States. 


Fig.  60.  —  Superior  iron  and  copper  district. 


Ores  of  lead  and  zinc  occur  together  in  two  districts,  (i)  the  Galena  dis- 
trict, including  the  adjacent  corners  of  Wisconsin,  Illinois,  and  Iowa,  and 
(2)  the  Joplin  district  in  southwestern  Missouri.  The  two  districts  pro- 
duce 36  per  cent  of  the  lead  and  52  per  cent  of  the  zinc  mined  in  the  United 
States.     Missouri  is  far  in  the  lead  of  the  other  states  (Table  IV,  Appendix). 

Timber  and  Lumber.  —  Northern  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and 
Minnesota  were  originally  covered  with  a  dense  coniferous  forest, 
(Fig.  61)  which  during  the  last  quarter  of  the  nineteenth  century 
was  the  principal  source  of  pine,  spruce,  and  hemlock  lumber  for 
the  United  States.  It  was  especially  valuable  on  account  of  its 
bordering  on  the  prairie  and  steppe,  where  building  material  was 
very  scarce.  Probably  a  majority  of  the  houses  and  barns  now 
occupied  in  the  Middle  West  were  built  out  of  it.  Logs  are  so 
large  and  heavy,  and  transportation  so  difficult  and  costly,  that 
lumbering  can  seldom  be  carried  on  far  from  waterways. 

In  the  "  pineries  "  trees  are  usually  felled  in  the  winter  where  the  ground  is 
frozen  and  covered  with  snow,  and  drawn  on  sleds  to  a  stream.     Sometimes 


I40 


THE    MIDDLK   WKST :   MANUFACTURES 


engines  are  used  instead  of  horses  for  liauling.  When  the  snow  niells  an(i 
the  ice  breaks  up  in  the  spring,  a  freshet  earriis  the  logs  downstream  to  the 
sawmills,  or  to  a  large  river  like  the  Mississippi  (Fig.  62),  where  they  are 
fastened  together  into  great  rafts  and  lloated  to  market.  The  l)uilding  of 
railroads  has  now  made  all  the  timberlands  accessible. 

W'liilc  pine  is  the  most  generally  useful  wood  in  the  world.     It  is  very 
light,  strong,  dural)le,  and  easily  worked,  and  while  plentiful  was  used  almost 


Fig.  62.  —  A  sea  of  logs  in  the  Missisbippi  I-li\cr  above  Minneapolis. 


to  the  exclusion  of  other  lumber  for  houses,  fences,  boxes,  and  crates.  The 
best  quality  "  clear  stuff,"  free  from  knots  and  straight-grained,  is  familiar 
in  the  form  of  match  sticks.  The  price  of  white  pine  has  doubled  in  the  last 
ten  years  and  its  place  is  being  taken  by  hemlock,  cypress,  and  other  cheaper 
woods.     It  is  still  generally  used  for  doors  and  window  sashes. 

Hardwood  Forest.  —  In  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Kentucky  the  sum- 
mer forest  attained  its  greatest  density  (Fig.  61).  The  timber  was 
so  heavy  that  in  summer  Uttle  sunhght  reached  the  ground  and 


CLAY  PRODUCTS 


141 


undergrowth  was  small.  More  than  40  species  of  trees  grew 
to  a  height  of  100  feet  or  more  and  were  three  to  ten  feet  in 
diameter.  Several  species  of  oak,  walnut,  and  poplar  were  the 
most  valuable,  but  ash,  hickory,  beech,  maple,  chestnut,  cherry, 
linden,  buckeye,  elm,  and  gum  were  numerous,  making  up  a 
growth  of  hardwood  timber  unequaled  elsewhere. 

The  task  of  the  pioneer  was  to  clear  this  forest  and  to  make  room  for 
corn  and  wheat.  There  was  Uttle  market  for  the  timber  and  most  of  it 
was  destroyed  by  burning  the  logs.  There  is  now  httle  of  the  primitive 
forest  left,  but  a  portion  of  it  has  supphed  materials 'for  great  industries  in 
vehicles,  tools,  and  furniture.  Oak,  ash,  maple,  chestnut,  and  poplar  find 
a  place  in  house  building  ;  hickory  and  elm  in  wagon  wheels  ;  and  oak,  wal- 
nut, cherry,  and  birch  in  fine  furniture.  The  growing  scarcity  and  cost  of 
lumber  has  led  to  the  extensive  use  of  veneer,  or  thin  sheets  of  fine  and  costly 
wood  glued  on  to  the  surface  of  cheaper  wood.  Veneer  is  also  used  for 
boxes,  baskets,  and  barrels  and  made  into  "  three-ply  "  lumber,  built  up  by 
gluing  together  three  sheets  of  veneer. 

The  forests  of  the  Middle  West  still  yield  about  15  per  cent 
of  the  total  timber  and  lumber  product  of  the  United  States, 
including  the  wood  ground  up  to  make  paper.      (See  Fig.  63.) 


UNITED  STATES. 

Iron  ore 

Zinc 

Clay  products 

Sand  and  gravel 

Cement 

Pig  iron 

Lead 

Stone- 

Coal 

Petroleum 

Natural  gas 

Copper 

All  minerals 

Timber  and  lumber. 


PER  CENT 

An M 60 


Fig.  63. 


10  20         30         40  50         60         70         80         90         100 

Rank  of  Middle  West  in  mineral  and  forest  products.    (See  Table  IV,  Appendix.) 


Clay  Products.  —  Among  the  fundamental  industries  which 
sustain  civilized  communities,  the  use  of  clay,  stone,  and  other 
kinds  of  rock  for  building  is  universal.     The  pioneer  of  the  Middle 


142 


THE    MIDDLK   WKST  :    MAXUI  ACTURKS 


West  stopped  the  cracks  in  his  log  cabin  with  clay.  In  regions  of 
small  rainfall,  adobe  or  clay  bricks  dried  in  the  sun  have  been 
used  for  ages.  Bricks  molded  from  a  mixture  of  clay  and  sand 
and  burned  hard  in  a  kiln  are  very  durable.  Brick  and  stone 
walls  are  laid  up  with  mortar  made  from  burned  limestone,  sand, 
and  water.     The  need  for  drainage  and  good  roads  has  led  to  the 

extensive  use  of  hollow 
tile  and  paving  brick. 

Brick  and  Tile.  —  The 
glacial  clay  of  the  Middle 
West  either  in  its  original 
beds  or  in  deposits  washed 
out  from  them,  is  widely 
distributed.  Shale  rock, 
which  is  compact  and 
hardened  clay,  is  abundant 
in  many  localities,  and  is 
ground  and  used  for  the 
same  purposes  as  clay. 
Nearly  every  community 
has  its  brickyard  and  tile 
factory.  Bricks  are  now  made  in  a  variety  of  colors  and  finish  which  con- 
tribute to  the  beauty  of  buildings.  Tile  for  underdraining  farms  and  sewer 
pipe  for  cities  are  in  great  demand  (Fig.  64).  While  these  industries  are 
widely  diffused  throughout  the  United  States,  the  value  of  their  products  in 
the  Middle  West  is  about  44  per  cent  of  that  of  the  whole  country. 

Cement.  —  Cement  is  made  by  heating  a  mixture  of  lime  and 
clay  to  a  high  temperature  long  enough  to  drive  off  all  the  water. 
It  is  then  ground  to  a  fine  powder  which,  when  wet,  reabsorbs 
water  and  hardens  into  an  artificial  stone.  Marl,  a  natural 
mixture  of  clay  and  lime  found  in  marshes  and  shallow  lakes,  is 
often  used  in  the  manufacture  of  cement.  The  lakes  and  marshes 
of  the  glacial  drift  plain  contain  marl  in  inexhaustible  quantities. 
Among  all  the  states,  Indiana  is  second  only  to  Pennsylvania 
in  the  production  of  cement,  and  the  Middle  West  makes  40  per 
cent  of  the  cement  used  in  the  United  States  (Fig.  63). 


^ 

y 

Fig.  64. 


A  kiln  for  heating  sewer  pipe  at  Brazil, 
Indiana. 


ICE  AND   COLD   STORAGE  143 

Rcenforced  concrete,  recently  introduced  as  a  constructive  material,  con- 
sists of  a  mixture  of  cement  and  gravel  or  broken  stone,  in  which  an  iron 
framework  is  embedded.  It  is  rapidly  displacing  brick,  stone,  and  wood  in 
the  construction  of  houses,  large  buildings,  bridges,  dams,  conduits,  canals, 
poles,  and  posts.  The  structure  is  erected  by  filling  wooden  molds  of  any 
desired  shape  or  size  with  fresh,  soft  concrete  which  solidifies;  when  the 
molds  are  removed  they  leave  the  whole  as  one  solid  mass  (Figs.  100,  164). 

Pottery  and  Glass.  —  The  manufacture  of  pottery  is  strongly 
localized  either  by  the  presence  of  some  special  kind  of  clay,  or 
by  the  interests  of  individual  capitalists.  The  potteries  of  East 
Liverpool,  Ohio,  give  that  state  a  rank  second  only  to  New  Jersey. 
The  Middle  West  turns  out  46  per  cent  of  all  the  pottery  made 
in  the  country  (Table  V,  Appendix). 

The  manufacture  of  glass  requires  pure  sand,  which  is  abundant 
in  many  localities.  It  must  also  have  cheap,  gaseous  fuel,  which 
can  be  blown  into  a  furnace  to  produce  a  very  high  temperature. 
Natural  gas  obtained  from  wells  is  ideal  for  this  purpose,  and 
the  gas  fields  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Indiana  have  attracted 
most  of  the  glass  works.  Since  the  natural  supply  has  declined, 
gas  is  obtained  by  heating  cheap,  bituminous  coal.  Pennsyl- 
vania is  the  leading  state,  but  similar  resources  in  Ohio,  Indiana, 
and  Illinois  have  given  the  Middle  West  38  per  cent  of  all  glass 
production. 

Foodstuffs.  —  Foodstuffs  require,  to  fit  them  for  use,  less 
change  from  their  natural  state  than  other  classes  of  goods. 
This  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  in  the  rich  agricultural  region 
of  the  Middle  West  they  constitute  only  about  one  quarter  of  the 
total  value  of  manufactures. 

Ice  and  Cold  Storage.  —  The  manufacture  and  use  of  ice  are  characteristic 
features  of  present-day  economy  in  the  United  States.  In  no  other  country 
is  ice  water  a  common  luxury,  or  the  refrigerator  a  common  household 
convenience.  Artificial  ice,  first  made  on  a  commercial  scale  in  New  Orleans 
about  fifty  years  ago,  is  now  used  more  than  natural  ice  throughout  the 
states.  By  artificial  refrigeration  the  preservation  and  transportation  of 
perishable  foodstuffs  have  been  revolutionized.     Meats,  poultry,  eggs,  and 


144 


THE   MIDDLE   WEST  :    MANUFACTURES 


fruits  arc  kept  in  cold  storage  warehouses  without  serious  loss  for  months 
or  years.  The  surplus  of  one  season  or  year  thus  becomes  available  for  a 
time  of  scarcity.  It  is  no  longer  necessary  to  transport  beef  "  on  the  hoof." 
P'resh  carcasses  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  swine  arc  shipped  from  the  Middle  West 
to  the  Eastern  and  Southern  Stales  in  refrigerator  cars  and  even  to  Europe 
in  ocean  steamships.  By  the  same  means  fresh  tropical  fruits  are  placed 
in  the  summer  markets  of  the  north. 

Slaughtering  and  Meat  Packing.  —  This  business  is  carried 

on  in  large  cities  of  the  corn  belt  where  the  cattle  and  hogs  are 
fattened.  Chicago  has  long  held  the  distinction  of  being  the 
greatest  meat-producting  center  in  the  world ;  Kansas  City, 
Omaha,  Indianapolis,  and  St.  Louis  are  next  in  rank,  but  their 
coinbined  product  does  not  equal  that  of  Chicago.  Seventy  per 
cent  of  the  meat  of  the  country  comes  from  the  Middle  West. 
(See  Figs.  65,  69.) 


UNITED  STATES $1,370,568,101 

0  100  200  300  400 

Kansas 
New  York 
Nebraska. 
MissourL 

lowa^ 

Pennsylvania 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Massachusetts 

Texas 

New  Jersey 

California 

Wisconsin 

Minnesota 

All  others 


Fig.  65. 


100  200  300  400 

Rank  of  states  in  slaughtering  and  meat  packing  (1909). 


At  a  large  slaughtering  establishment  cattle  and  hogs  enter  on  their  feet, 
in  a  continuous  line,  and  traveling  almost  without  pause  past  a  series  of 
workmen,  are  killed,  hung  on  a  trolley,  skinned,  disemboweled,  and  cut  to 
pieces,  every  part  going  to  its  proper  place,  all  in  a  few  minutes  (Fig.  66). 
Nothing  is  wasted,  not  even  the  hair  and  hoofs.  Besides  meat,  materials  for 
soup,  glue,  mattresses,  buttons,  and  fertilizers  are  among  the  by-products. 
A  large  part  of  the  fresh  meat  is  distributed  without  further  change  in 


MILLING 


145 


refrigerator  cars.     Hams  and  bacon  are  smoked,  and  both  beef  and  pork  are 
salted  and  canned. 


Fig.  66.  —  Cutting  up  beef  in  a  packing  house. 


Milling.  —  Not  many  years  ago  wheat  was  ground  between 
two  cylindrical  stones,  turned  by  hand  or  by  a  small  windmill 
or  water  wheel.  This  process  makes  excellent  flour  from  the 
softer  varieties  of  wheat.  The  hard  wheat  of  the  Red  River 
country  is  crushed  between  steel  rollers,  sifted,  and  reground 
until  75  per  cent  of  it  is  converted  into  a  very  fine,  white  flour. 
The  skin  or  hull  of  the  grain  is  left  as  bran  and  middlings,  and 
fed  to  stock.  Milling  is  done  on  an  enormous  scale  at  Minne- 
apolis, use  being  made  of  the  water  power  of  the  Falls  of  St. 
Anthony.  In  early  times  a  farmer  who  raised  wheat  took  it  to 
a  near-by  gristmill  and  had  it  ground,  taking  home  the  flour 

ELEM.    ECON.    GEOG.— Q 


146 


'nil-:    MIDDLi:   WKST:    MANUFACTURES 


and  Iced  made  from  liis  own  fjjrain.  Now  he  sells  his  wheat  at 
an  elevator  and  buys  Minnesota  Hour.  The  value  of  ^fiiin 
ground  in  the  Middle  West  amounts  to  60  per  cent  of  that  of 

UNITED  STATES 4883,584,406 

0  30  60  90  120  150 

i:i9.136.129 
£9.802.278 
68,476,.410 
51,110,681 
48,093,353 
44,782,558 

44,508,106 

.40,541.422 
34,860,803 
32,484.612 
.31,667.434 
-29.070,019 
25,188.133 

(---223,862,467 


Minnesota 

New  York 

Kansas 

Illinois 

Ohio 

Pennsylvania 

Missouri 

Indiana. 

Michigan. 

Texas 

Wisconsin 

Tennessee 

California 

All  others 


Fig.  67. 


30  60  90  120  150 

Rank  of  slates  in  llour  and  gristmill  products  (lyocj). 


the  whole  country,  and  is  second  only  to  the  value  of  meat  in 
that  section.     (See  Figs.  67,  69.) 

Liquors.  —  Alcoholic  liquors  are  not  food,  but  are  produced  from  food- 
stuffs, especially  from  corn,  which  is  the  cheapest  form  of  starch.  Conse- 
quently the  corn  belt  supports  extensive  distilleries  and  breweries.  Illinois, 
Kentucky,  and  Indiana  distill  65  per  cent  of  all  the  alcohol  made  in  the 
United  States.  The  brewing  industry  is  widespread,  but  Milwaukee,  St. 
Louis,  and  Cincinnati  are  especially  noted  for  the  manufacture  of  beer. 

Implements,  Vehicles,  and  Furniture.  —  The  Middle  West 
enjoys  even  a  larger  share  in  the  manufacture  of  the  tools  of 

UNITED  STATES $146,329^268 

0  10  20  30  40  50  60 

.  57,268,325 
_  14,970,980 

14,440.461 

13,669,824 

11,411,303 
-9,272,787 
—  25,295.588 
10  20  30  4.0  50  60 

Fig.  68.  —  Rank  of  states  in  manufacture  of  agricultural  implements  (igog). 

agriculture    than   in    agricultural   products.     This    amounts   in 
the  case  of  implements  to  79  per  cent,  and  in  the  case  of  wagons 


AUTOMOBILES 


147 


and  automobiles  to  68  per  cent.  This  is  due  to  the  abundance  of 
wood  and  metal  and  to  the  great  home  demand.  The  principal 
centers  for  machinery  are  Chicago  and  Moline,  111.,  Racine  and 
Milwaukee,  Wis.,  and  Springfield,  O. ;  for  wagons  and  plows 
South  Bend,  Ind.     (See  Fig.  68.) 

Furniture  is  made  of  hardwood  at  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  Sheboygan, 
Wis.,  and  Chicago,  111. 

The  tanning  of  hides,  the  canning  of  vegetables,  and  the  manufacture  of 
electrical  machinery  are  important  industries.  Printing  and  publishing 
stands  fourth  in  value  of  output,  amounting  to  one  third  of  that  in  all  the 
states. 

Automobiles.  —  Few  industries  have  ever  developed  so  rapidly  as  the 
manufacture  of  automobiles  and  autotrucks.  Since  igog  the  output  has 
more  than  doubled,  and  in  19 15  amounted  to  700,000  cars  worth  $523,000,000. 
The  number  and  variety  of  parts  and  the  high  quality  of  material  required 
make  it  advantageous  to  build  a  complete  machine  by  assembling  parts 
obtained  from  a  large  number  of  independent  factories,  each  of  which 
furnishes  a  special  product.  This  tends  to  concentrate  these  related  indus- 
tries at  a  few  favorable  points,  of  which  Detroit  is  far  in  the  lead,  with 
Cleveland  a  good  second.  New  York,  Buffalo,  Indianapolis,  Chicago,  and 
Flint  (Mich.)  are  also  noted  centers.     The  war  in  Europe  has  created  a 


UNITED  STATES 0 

Agricultural  implements 

Automobiles 

Slaughtering  &  meat  packing 

Distilled  spirits 

Carriages  and  wagons 

Butter, cheese  and  cond.  milk. 
Flour  and  grist  mil  1  products . . 

Pottery. 

Paint  and  varnish 

Brick  and  tile 

Fermented  liquors 

F'ndry  &  mach.shop  products 

Soap 

Glass ^ 

"  Steel — 

Pig  iron 

Printing  and  publishing 

All  manufactures 

Value  added  by  manufacture. 


20 


PER  CENT 
40  50  60 


70 


80 


.0  10  20  30         40  50         60 

Fig.  69.  —  Rank  of  Middle  West  in  value  of  manufactures.     (See  Table  V,  Appendix.) 


148  nil.    MIDDLK   WKST:   MANUFACTURES 

great  demand  for  aulo-vchitics,  wliitli  is  sui)[)licd  largely  from  the  United 
States.  The  general  use  of  automobiles  has  slimulaled  other  industries  in 
iron,  steel,  rubber,  leather,  electrical  supplies,  and  above  all  in  the  jjroduc- 
tion  of  gasoline.  It  has  also  been  the  main  factor  in  bringing  about  an  era 
of  good  roads. 

Summary.  —  The  manufactures  of  the  Middle  West  amount  to 
more  than  one  third  of  the  total  in  the  United  States.  The 
region  excels  in  the  production  of  agricultural  implements,  vehi- 
cles, meats,  spirits,  butter,  cheese,  and  flour.      (See  Fig.  69.) 

QUESTIONS 

1.  At  a  planing  mill,  get  pieces  of  wood  of  as  many  varieties  as  possible. 
Try  to  split,  break,  and  cut  them.     For  what  uses  is  each  adapted? 

2.  What  arc  the  advantages  of  concrete  over  wood  as  a  building  material  ? 

3.  What  are  the  advantages  of  water  power  as  compared  with  steam  for 
running  a  factory  ? 

4.  In  an  artificial  ice  plant,  coal  is  burned  in  a  furnace,  and  by  means  of 
the  power  produced  water  is  frozen.     Explain. 

5.  Why  have  nearly  all  the  small  water-power  sawmills  and  gristmills, 
once  common  in  the  Middle  West,  been  abandoned? 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE  MIDDLE  WEST  :    COMMERCE  AND  TRANSPORTATION 

Production,  Consumption,  and  Distribution.  —  In  the  last  three 
chapters  an  account  has  been  given  of  the  principal  kinds  of 
productive  and  constructive  work  done  in  the  Middle  West. 
Nearly  every  square  mile  of  land  furnishes  some  useful  thing, 
and  there  is  many  a  square  mile  upon  which  production  is  so 
concentrated  that  the  total  product  is  worth  millions  of  dollars. 
On  nearly  every  square  mile  there  is  at  least  one  household 
which  uses  or  consumes  a  variety  of  products  ;  and  where  the 
population  is  dense,  consumption  amounts  to  millions  of  dollars' 
worth  in  a  square  mile.  As  a  rule,  very  few  products  are  con- 
sumed at  the  place  where  they  are  produced  or  by  the  people 
who  produce  them.  There  are  many  producers  and  a  still  greater 
number  of  consumers,  including  the  producers  themselves,  each 
one  of  whom  wants  more  of  the  goods  produced  by  others  than 
of  his  own  products.  In  a  general  way,  everybody  has  something 
to  do  with  supporting  everybody  else.  Hence  the  work  of 
distribution,  or  getting  the  goods  wanted  from  every  producer 
to  every  consumer,  is  as  important  and  almost  as  great  as  pro- 
duction itself.  Distribution  is  accomplished  through  trade, 
or  exchange  of  goods,  and  by  means  of  transportation,  or  move- 
ment of  goods. 

Commercial  Basins,  Channels,  and  Divides.  —  In  the  natural  drainage  of 
water  from  the  land,  every  stream  has  its  basin  from  which  water  Hows  into 
it,  and  each  basin  is  surrounded  by  a  divide,  beyond  which  water  flows  into 
some  other  stream.  In  the  distribution  of  goods  there  are  similar  basins  and 
divides.     Every  town  has  a  certain  district  or  basin  around  it,  with  which 

149 


ISO       rilK    MIDDI.i;    WKST:    COMMKRCK   AND    TRANSPORTATION 

il  liahiuially  docs  l)usinc'ss,  from  wliii  h  prcxhuo  is  hiouglil  for  sale,  and  to 
whith  giHxls  arc  siii)|)Iic(l.  liclwccn  llic  commercial  basin  of  one  town  and 
the  basin  of  neighboring  towns  there  is  a  divide  or  strip  of  country  where  the 
trade  of  two  towns  overlaps.  The  commercial  basin  tributary  to  a  large 
town  includes  the  commercial  basins  tributary  to  many  smaller  towns. 

In  the  same  way  every  transportation  line,  be  il  country  road  or  trunk 
railroad,  serves  and  draws  business  from  a  certain  territory  or  basin  lying 
on  both  sides  of  it.  At  some  distance,  great  or  small,  from  the  line  is  a  di- 
vide or  boundary  beyond  which  business  ordinarily  goes  to  some  other  line. 
The  movement  of  goods  within  a  basin,  large  or  small,  is  known  as  local 
traffic.  The  movement  of  goods  across  divides  from  one  great  basin  to 
another  is  called  through  tratfic.  On  trunk  lines  the  through  traffic  is  much 
greater  than  the  local.  Commercial  distribution  resembles  the  natural 
drainage  of  the  land  in  being  carried  on  through  main  channels,  which  divide 
and  subdivide  into  innumerable  tributaries  ramifying  all  through  the  terri- 
tory. In  a  drainage  channel  water  runs  in  only  one  direction,  but  in  a 
commercial  channel  goods  move  in  both  directions. 

The  Circulation  of  Goods.  —  People  could  not  live  as  they  do 
in  the  Middle  West  without  a  very  great  movement  of  goods  and 
people.  Only  a  small  part  of  the  products  of  agriculture  is  used 
on  the  farm  where  they  are  grown.  Probably  75  per  cent  of 
all  the  grain,  roots,  fruit,  meat,  milk,  and  eggs  produced  by  the 
farmer  is  hauled  to  some  market  town  and  sold  for  money. 
Among  the  goods  bought  and  taken  back  to  the  farm  are  tools, 
machinery,  vehicles,  lumber,  brick,  wire  fencing,  coal,  flour,  sugar, 
coffee,  tea,  spices,  crockery,  silverware,  furniture,  carpets,  cloth- 
ing, and  a  hundred  small  luxuries  of  comfortable  living,  all  ap- 
proximately equal  in  value  to  the  products  sold. 

In  towns  the  business  of  manufacture  involves  a  greater  move- 
ment of  goods  than  the  business  of  agriculture  does  in  the  country. 
The  manufacturer  must  get  building  materials,  tools,  and  ma- 
chines from  various  other  manufacturers  and  raw  materials  from 
far  and  near.  Then  his  manufactured  goods  must  be  distributed 
to  the  consumers  over  a  wide  territory.  To  this  movement  and 
exchange  of  home  products  are  added  the  sending  abroad,  or  ex- 
portation, of  goods  to  foreign  countries  and  the  importation  of 


LOCAL   TRANSPORTATION  151 

foreign  goods  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  these  also  to  be  dis- 
tributed to  the  consumers  in  every  community.  The  wholesale 
houses  in  the  large  cities  obtain  goods,  domestic  and  foreign,  in 
large  quantities,  assort  and  repack  them  in  smaller  lots  and  dis- 
tribute them  to  the  retail  dealers  in  every  town  and  crossroads. 

In  every  prosperous  community  there  are  going  on  a  collection  of  goods 
from  every  producer  and  their  redistribution  to  every  consumer,  thus  setting 
up  a  vast  system  of  circulation,  something  like  the  circulation  of  blood  in 
the  human  body'.  It  brings  to  each  household  the  materials  needed  and 
carries  away  the  materials  not  needed.  Every  household  is  enabled  to 
sell  whatever  valuable  thing  it  produces  and  to  buy  anything  it  needs  and 
can  pay  for,  and  the  wants  of  every  consumer  are  in  a  large  measure  supplied. 
We  seldom  go  without  things  we  want  because  they  are  not  in  the  market, 
but  generally  because  we  cannot  afford  to  buy  them. 

Local  Transportation.  —  The  hrst  movement  of  goods  sold  by 
the  producer  and  the  last  movement  of  goods  bought  by  the 
consumer  involve  a  large  amount  of  teaming,  or  transportation  by 
horse  and  wagon.  In  towns  and  cities,  where  this  traffic  is  con- 
centrated and  congested,  horses  are  being  displaced  by  motor 
trucks.  While  necessity  has  compelled  the  paving  of  city 
streets,  the  country  roads  used  by  all  the  rural  population  have 
been,  until  recently,  poorer  in  the  United  States  than  in  any 
other  commercial  country  in  the  world.  The  farming  communi- 
ties have  been  generally  indifferent  and  insensible  of  the  cost  to 
themselves  of  the  common  dirt  road,  poorly  made  and  main- 
tained, and  during  wet  seasons  almost  impassable.  Over  a  large 
part  of  the  Middle  West  this  condition  is  relieved  in  winter,  when 
heavy  hauling  can  be  done  with  sleighs  on  frozen  and  snow- 
covered  ground. 

The  needs  of  travel  for  pleasure  and  business,  first  by  the  bi- 
cycle and  later  by  the  automobile,  have  aroused  the  people  to  the 
advantages  of  improved  roads.  The  movement  for  good  roads 
has  now  become  general,  and  states,  counties,  and  townships 
have  combined  to  make  and  maintain  highways  that  traverse 


152      THE   MTDDI.F.   WEST:   COMMERCE   AND   TRANSPORTATION 

the  country  in  every  direction  (Fig.   70).     In  many  cases  the 
construction  of  a  good  road  past  a  farm  adds  to  its  value  twice 


Fig.   70.  —  A  ^ood  road  across  ihe  prairie. 

the  amount  of  the  cost  for  road  improvement  taxed  upon  the 
farm. 

Electric  Interurban  Railways.  —  The  generally  level  surface  of 
the  Middle  West  makes  that  part  of  the  United  States  especially 
favorable  for  the  extension  of  "  trolley  lines,"  or  railways  which 
often  follow  the  highways  and  carry  light  cars  driven  by  electricity 
from  a  central  pow^r  house.  The  cars  running  singly  at  frequent 
intervals  and  stopping  almost  anywhere,  carry  people,  mail,  milk, 
and  small  articles  of  freight.  Thus  communication  and  trade 
between  the  rural  and  the  urban  population,  and  between  the 
smaller  and  the  larger  towns  are  greatly  increased  and  facilitated. 
Men  working  or  doing  business  in  the  city  can  have  hom.es  in 
the  country,  farmers  are  no  longer  isolated,  and  the  advantages  of 
town  and  country  are  brought  within  the  reach  of  all.  Ohio, 
Indiana,  Michigan,  and  Illinois  have  more  extensive  "  trac- 
tion  systems  "   of  interurban   railways   than   the  other  states 


RAILROADS 


153 


(Fig.  71).     In  the  territory  covered  they  carry  more  passengers 
on  trips  of  100  miles  or  less  than  do  the  steam  railroads. 


VIRGINIA 


Fig.   71. — Traction  system  of  some  Middle  Western  states. 

Railroads.  —  The  most  extensive  and  efficient  means  of  trans- 
portation in  the  United  States  is  the  steam  railroad.  The 
Middle  West  is  especially  favorable  for  railroad  construction 
and  operation.  The  level  surface  makes  grading  easy  and  in- 
expensive. The  line  may  be  run  in  any  direction  and  in  a  nearly 
straight  course.  Sharp  curves,  deep  cuts,  high  fills,  tunnels, 
and  long  bridges  are  seldom  required.  The  track  is  laid  upon  a 
bed  of  dirt  and  gravel,  and  steel  rails  resting  on  wooden  crossties 
make  a  road  so  smooth,  hard,  and  durable  as  to  permit  heavy 
loads  and  high  speeds.  The  main  trunk  lines  are  equipped 
with  double  or  even  quadruple  tracks.  Freight  trains  of  70 
or  more  cars,  having  a  total  length  of  half  a  mile  and  carrying  a 


154    TJii''  Mii>i>i-i^  \vi:sr:  ('()MMi;k(i';  and  traxsi'ortation 

loud  ol"  3500  tons,  can  he  drawn  by  one  en<!;ine.  Passenger  trains 
of  ten  coaches  are  run  lonj;  distances  at  an  average  speed  of  50 
miles  an  hour. 

Centers  and  Trunk  Lines.  —  Lake  Michigan  projects  south- 
ward to  the  center  of  the  Middle  West,  forming  a  barrier  im- 
passable for  railroads.  This  makes  its  southern  end  at  Chicago 
the  greatest  railroad  center  and  terminal  in  the  world.  The 
longest  and  best  equipped  trunk  lines  extend  from  it  to  the  east, 
south,  west,  and  northwest,  but  the  movement  of  goods  is 
greater  toward  the  east  than  in  other  directions.  This  is  due  to 
the  dense  population  of  the  Atlantic  states,  which  consumes 
great  quantities  of  foodstuffs,  and  to  the  situation  of  Atlantic  sea 
ports,  which  carry  on  foreign  trade,  especially  with  Europe. 
Duluth,  St.  Paul,  and  St.  Louis  are  also  important  terminal 
points.  No  eastern  system  extends  farther  west  and  no  western 
system  extends  farther  east  than  a  line  connecting  these  cities 
with  Chicago,  which  thus  forms  the  principal  railroad  divide  of 
the  United  States.  Thousands  of  cars,  however,  are  transferred 
from  one  system  to  another  and  pass  through. 

Eastern  Systems.  —  There  are  nine  great  railroad  systems 
which  connect  the  Middle  West  with  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 
With  few  exceptions  they  are  closely  connected  with  ports  and 
steamship  lines  on  the  Great  Lakes.     (See  Fig.  56.) 

The  New  York  Central  system  has  two  trunk  Hnes  between  Chicago  and 
Buffalo  :  the  Michigan  Central  which  runs  through  Canada,  north  of  Lake 
Erie,  and  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  which  runs  along  the  south 
shore  of  the  lake.  A  line  from  St.  Louis  joins  the  latter  at  Cleveland,  and 
numerous  branches  cover  the  territory  between  the  lakes  and  the  Ohio 
River.  The  outlet  from  Buffalo  is  through  the  Mohawk-Hudson  gap  to 
New  York,  the  lowest  and  easiest  pass  across  the  Appalachian  Highland. 

The  Pennsylvania  system  also  includes  two  lines  from  Chicago  and  one 
from  St.  Louis  which  unite  at  Pittsburgh.  Its  branches  and  connections 
are  even  more  numerous  than  those  of  the  New  York  Central  system. 
The  main  trunk  road  crosses  the  Appalachians  from  Pittsburgh  to  Phila- 
delphia and  New  York  by  the  Susquehanna  valley. 


WATERWAYS  155 

The  BaUlmoyc  and  Ohio  lines  extend  from  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  to 
Cumberland,  Md.,  whence  the  trunk,  road  follows  the  Potomac  valley  to 
Baltimore.  Still  farther  south  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  and  the  Norfolk  and 
Western  connect  Chicago,  Louisville,  and  Cincinnati  with  the  mouth  of 
Chesapeake  Bay. 

The  Nickel  Plate,  a  single  unbranched  line  from  Chicago  to  Buffalo,  is 
shorter  than  its  rivals.  The  Erie,  from  Chicago  to  New  York,  is  less  direct 
and  the  longest  of  all. 

Branches  of  the  Grand  Trunk  and  the  Canadian  Pacific  connect  Chicago, 
St.  Paul,  and  Duluth  with  the  Canadian  systems  which  reach  the  sea  at  Mont- 
real, Halifax,  St.  John,  N.  B.,  and  Portland,  Me. 

Western  Systems.  —  More  than  a  dozen  railroad  lines  run  westward 
from  Chicago  to  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  half  as  many  extend  from  the 
Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers  across  the  continent  to  the  Pacific  coast. 
Some  of  these  systems,  like  the  Chicago  and  N ortliwestcrn  and  the  Chicago, 
Rock  Island,  and  Pacific,  cover  the  most  productive  territory  with  a  close 
network  of  branches.  Others,  like  the  Great  Northern,  Northern  Pacific, 
Union  Pacific,  and  Santa Fe,  have  few  branches  and  stretch  out  to  transcon- 
tinental lengths. 

Among  a  half  dozen  north-south  lines,  the  Illinois  Central,  from  Chicago 
to  New  Orleans,  is  a  successful  rival  in  transportation  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  with  which  it  runs  parallel. 

The  branches  of  the  great  systems,  together  with  numerous, 
shorter,  independent  hnes,  cover  the  Middle  West  with  a  network 
so  close  that  areas  more  than  ten  miles  from  a  railroad  are  few 
and  small.  There  are  100,000  miles  of  railway,  or  over  40 
per  cent  of  the  total  mileage  of  the  United  States  (Table  I, 
Appendix).  Notwithstanding  this  enormous  development,  the 
railroads  are  at  some  seasons  congested  and  unable  to  move  all 
the  goods  needing  distribution. 

Waterways.  —  The  easiest  and  cheapest  of  all  methods  of 
transportation  is  by  water.  A  waterway  has  little  or  no  slope 
and  requires  no  outlay  for  grading,  track  laying,  or  maintenance. 
A  small  vessel  can  carry  a  larger  load  than  any  car  and  the  largest 
can  carry  the  load  of  ten  freight  trains.  Less  power  is  required 
to  move  a  load  on  water  than  on  the  best  railroad.  If  a  steamer 
and  a  freight  train  were  loaded  with  the  same  number  of  tons 


156      THE   MIDDLK   WKST  :    COMMKRCE    AND   TRANSPORTATION 

at  Toledo,  the  cost  of  moving  the  load  to  BulYalo  would  be 
less  on  the  lake  than  on  the  railroad  which  follows  the  shore.  On 
the  other  hand  natural  waterways  generally  need  to  be  im- 
proved by  the  removal  of  obstructions.  Shallow  places  are 
deepened,  canals  are  dug  around  rapids  and  falls,  and  harbors, 
docks,  and  lighthouses  are  constructed.  Many  inland  water- 
ways are  closed  a  part  of  the  year  by  ice.  Railroads  can  be  built 
wherever  needed  and  kept  in  service  at  all  seasons.  Artificial 
waterways  or  canals  are  very  costly  to  build  and  to  maintain,  and 
transportation  by  water  is  much  slower  than  by  rail. 

The  Middle  West  enjoys  the  advantage  of  the  two  greatest 
inland  waterways  in  North  America,  the  Laurentian  Great  Lakes 
and  the  Mississippi  River  system.      (See  Fig.  56.) 


Fig.  72. 


Conneaut  Harbor,  Ohio.      Unloading  iron  ore  from   Lake  Superior. 
(See  Fig.  73) 


The  Great  Lakes.  —  The  four  upper  lakes,  Superior,  Michigan, 
Huron,  and  Erie,  occupy  basins  in  an  upland  about  600  feet  above 
the  sea.     The  lake  surfaces  stand  higher  than  the  country  on 


THE   GREAT   LAKES 


157 


the  south,  so  that  a  divide  from  which  streams  flow  away  to  the 
Mississippi  system  occurs  within  a  few  miles  of  the  shores.  In  the 
past  these  lakes  stood  higher  than  at  present  and  overflowed 
through  several  outlets  to  the  Mississippi.  At  present  they  form 
a  wide,  deep,  nearly  level  waterway  equivalent  to  an  inland  sea. 


Fig.   73.  —  Distribution  of  iron  ore  from  the  Lake  Superior  district. 

A  vessel  can  pass  from  Duluth  to  Buffalo,  a  distance  of  about 
1000  miles  with  a  descent  through  the  St.  Marys  River  of  21 
feet,  and  through  the  St.  Clair  and  Detroit  rivers  of  8  feet. 
The  descent  from  Chicago  to  Buffalo,  about  900  miles,  is 
only  8  feet.  From  Lake  Erie  to  Lake  Ontario  through  the 
Niagara  River  there  is  a  fall  of  326  feet  and  vessels  can  pass 
only  by  way  of  the  Welland  Canal  in  Canada.  Therefore,  so 
far  as  the  United  States  is  concerned,  the  lake  route  practically 
ends  at  Buffalo.     (See  Fig.  73.) 


158       rill':    MIDDIJ.    \VI;ST:    COMMKRCK    A\1>    TRAXSrORTATION 


Tonnage  and  Rates.  — The  lakes  are  ojjeii  lor  navigation  less  ihan  eight 
months  in  the  year,  yet  the  freight  carried  exceeds  in  tonnage  that  of  any 
other  inland  waterway  in  the  world,  equals  that  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
and  exceeds  the  combined  foreign  trade  of  New  York,  London,  and  Liverpool. 
The  size  of  the  vessels  used  is  limited  by  the  depth  of  water  in  the  "  Soo  " 
canals  around  the  rapids  of  the  St.  Marys  River.  The  largest,  when  loaded, 
draw  20  feet  of  water  and  have  a  capacity  of  12,000  tons.  The  heaviest 
traffic  is  in  iron  ore  (Fig.  73),  lumber,  grain,  flour,  and  copper  east  bound  and 
coal  westbound.  Ore  and  coal  are  run  into  a  vessel  from  a  bin  on  the  dock 
above  it  and  taken  out  by  scoops  which  grasp  and  lift  many  tons  at  once. 
A  vessel  may  be  loaded  in  less  than  an  hour  and  unloaded  in  one  day.  Ore 
is  carried  from  Duluth  to  Erie  ports  for  about  65  cents  a  ton,  grain  from 
Chicago  to  Buffalo  for  40  cents,  and  coal  in  the  other  direction  for  30 
cents. 

The  lakes  control  in  a  large  degree  the  location  of  railroad  lines,  of  which 
nearly  all  the  great  systems  to  the  cast,  west,  and  south  reach  one  or  more  of 
the  lake  ports,  and  some  of  them  run  parallel  with  the  lake  route.  The 
western  and  southwestern  roads  bring  goods  to  Superior  and  Michigan  ports, 
whence  they  are  shipped  by  water  to  Erie  ports.  There  they  are  again 
loaded  on  cars  and  sent  by  rail  to  the  Eastern  States.  The  westward  move- 
ment of  goods  by  the  same  routes  is  large,  but  smaller  than  the  eastward. 
The  railroads  not  only  cooperate  with  the  lake  vessels  but  compete  with  them 
in  carrying  goods  which,  like  fresh  meat,  require  rapid  transportation. 


Fig.   74.  —  Ice  breaker  freight  boat  used  on  the  Great  Lakes  in  winter. 


THI':   MISSISSIPPI   SYSTEM 


159 


In  the  winter  the  lakes  are  frozen  (Fig.  74)  and  the  railroads 
must  do  all  the  business.  The  vast  system,  comprising  the 
lake  routes  and  the  rival  and  connecting  railway  lines,  has 
been  compared  to  a  thick  cable  of  many  strands,  which  at  each 
end  are  untwisted  and  spread  out  (Fig.  73). 

The  Mississippi  System.  —  The  Mississippi,  one  of  the  largest 
rivers  in  the  world,  bisects  the  Middle  West  along  a  line  nearly 
midway  between  the  eastern  and  western  borders.     Two  great 


Fig.   75.  —  A  steamer  on  the  Ohio  River. 

tributaries,  the  Missouri  and  the  Ohio,  with  their  branches  furnish 
navigable  waterways  to  two  thirds  of  the  area  (Figs.  33,  56). 

These  natural  arteries  of  economic  circulation  were  used  in  the  exploration 
and  early  settlement  of  the  country.  Trade  was  almost  entirely  southward, 
with  New  Orleans  for  a  seaport,  until  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal  from  the 
Hudson  River  to  Lake  Erie  in  1825  made  an  easy  outlet  to  New  York,  and 
diverted  the  main  currents  of  traffic  eastward.  Population  had  previously 
entered  and  settled  along  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  but  now  it  came  in  by  the 
canal  and  occupied  the  lands  around  the  lakes.  This  movement  was  favored 
and  extended  by  the  construction  of  canals  from  Lake  Erie  at  Toledo  to  the 
Wabash  River  and  to  the  Ohio  at  Cincinnati,  from  Cleveland  to  the  Scioto 
and  the  Ohio,  and  from  Chicago  to  the  Illinois  River.     The  canals  were 


l6o      Tin:    MIDDLE   WEST:   COMMERCE   AND   TRANSPORTATION 

soon  followed  by  several  east -west  lines  of  railroad,  which  caused  a  decline 
in  traffic  by  water,  but  a  great  increase  in  total  movement  of  goods.  The 
closing  of  the  Mississippi  during  the  Civil  War  gave  commerce  on  the  rivers 
a  blow  from  which  it  has  never  recovered,  and  the  extension  of  railroads  has 
kept  the  traffic  by  water  between  the  Middle  West  and  the  (iulf  of  Mexico 
down  to  an  insignificant  quantity.  The  chief  river  business  is  now  the  ship- 
ment of  coal  in  barges  from  Pennsylvania  to  points  on  the  Ohio,  Mississippi, 
and  Missouri  (Fig.  56). 

The  Neglect  of  Waterways.  —  The  United  States,  including 
especially  the  Middle  West,  stands  alone  among  great  commercial 
countries  in  the  neglect  of  v^aterways  and  the  extension  of  rail- 
roads. While  in  western  Europe  the  natural  waterways  have 
been  improved  and  extended  by  canals  until  they  carry  more 
freight  than  the  railroads,  in  the  United  States  only  the  Great 
Lakes  are  extensively  utihzed.  Although  the  railroads  are  con- 
gested and  unable  to  meet  the  demands  made  upon  them,  com- 
paratively Httle  use  is  made  of  the  rivers,  and  canals  formerly 
constructed  have  been  in  many  cases  abandoned.  Even  the  old 
Erie  Canal  has  become  nearly  useless  and  is  now  being  enlarged 
(Fig.  124). 

The  causes  of  the  backward  state  of  water  transportation  in 
the  Mississippi  basin  are  partly  natural  and  partly  artificial : 

1.  The  Missouri  River  and  the  lower  Mississippi  are  so  loaded  with  sedi- 
ment that  the  channel  is  shallow  and  extremely  crooked,  shifting,  and  diflfi- 
cult  to  navigate.  The  whole  system,  including  the  Ohio,  is  subject  to  great 
floods  in  the  spring  and  to  very  low  water  in  the  autumn.  In  the  present 
condition  of  world  trade,  the  rivers  lead  in  the  wrong  direction,  the  greatest 
markets  being  on  the  Atlantic  coasts  of  America  and  Europe. 

2.  The  use  of  the  Great  Lakes  is  easy,  unpreventable,  and,  on  the  whole, 
favorable  to  the  railroads  by  carrying  to  them  an  enormous  bulk  of  freight. 
The  use  of  streams  is  difticult  and  their  improvement  requires  the  expenditure 
of  large  sums  of  public  money.  This  has  been  successfully  discouraged  by 
the  builders  and  managers  of  railroads,  who  see  in  them  formidable  rivals. 

Present  conditions  are  not  Hkely  to  continue.  The  opening 
of  the  Panama  Canal,  the  decline  in  relative  importance  of  Euro- 
pean markets,  and  the  future  trade  with  countries  around  the 


QUESTIONS  l6l 

Pacific  may  draw  such  a  movement  of  goods  toward  the  Gulf  as  to 
compel  the  improvement  and  use  of  the  waterways.  Canals  al- 
ready begun  or  projected  from  Chicago  to  St.  Louis  and  from 
Cleveland  to  Pittsburgh  may  connect  the  lakes  with  the  Missis- 
sippi system.  Although  the  cost  would  be  very  great,  the  rivers 
may  be  so  improved  as  to  fill  the  largest  place  in  the  commerce  of 
the  Middle  West  which  it  is  possible  for  them  to  do. 

Summary.  —  Goods  produced  on  farms  and  in  factories  must 
be  distributed  to  the  people  who  use  them.  Hence  the  work  of 
distribution  becomes  as  great  as  that  of  production.  This  is 
done  by  vehicles  on  roads,  railroads,  and  waterways.  The 
Middle  West  has  two  great  waterways  and  a  close  network 
of  railroads.  The  railroad  mileage  and  traffic  are  the  greatest 
in  the  world.  River  transportation,  now  neglected,  will  probably 
increase  in  the  future. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  In  laying  out  a  road  is  il  belter  to  go  around  a  hill  or  over  it  ?     Why? 

2.  Why  are  "  cuts  and  fills  "  made  in  grading  a  road?  Why  is  a  good 
wagon  road  highest  along  the  middle  ? 

3.  What  materials  are  used  on  roads  for  making  a  hard,  smooth  surface? 

4.  Why  is  a  railroad  the  best  of  all  artificial  roadways? 

5.  How  is  a  railroad  made  more  straight,  level,  smooth,  hard,  and  durable 
than  any  other  roadway  ? 

6.  What  advantages  for  passenger  traflic  have  the  electric  interurban 
roads  over  steam  railroads  ? 

7.  Why  does  the  railroad  net  shown  in  Fig.  56  become  abruptly  less  dense 
at  about  the  looth  meridian?  Why  is  it  less  dense  in  northern  Minnesota 
and  southern  Missouri  and  Kentucky? 

8.  Why  is  a  lake  route  superior  to  a  river  route  for  transportation  ? 

9.  Compare  waterways  and  railroads  as  to  the  advantages  and  disadvan- 
tages of  each. 

10.  What  goods  would  be  carried  each  way  on  a  waterway  20  feet  deep 
between  Chicago  and  New  Orleans  ? 


ELEM.    ECON.    GEOG. 


CHAPIKR    XIV 

THE    MIDDLE    WEST:    CITIES 

Growth  of  Cities.  —  A  city  is  the  product  of  all  the  natural 
conditions  and  economic  forces  of  a  community,  and  is,  therefore, 
extremely  complex.  Savages  often  live  together  in  small  villages 
for  the  sake  of  company,  for  protection  from  enemies,  and  for 
cooperation  in  hunting,  fishing,  or  herding.  In  early  English 
history  a  town  was  a  collection  of  dwelhngs  inclosed  by  a  hedge, 
palisade,  or  wall  for  protection,  but  the  modern  town  owes  its 
origin  and  existence  to  the  demands  of  trade.  When  the  division 
of  labor  has  progressed  so  far  that  each  household  or  village  pro- 
duces only  one  or  a  few  kinds  of  goods,  permanent  trading  centers 
become  necessary.  Such  places  are  advantageous  for  artisans, 
smiths,  carpenters,  shoemakers,  tailors,  and  millers,  as  well  as  for 
tradesmen,  and  the  two  main  characteristics  of  the  modern  city, 
trade  and  manufacture,  are  established  at  the  same  place.  One 
thing  essential  for  the  existence  of  every  commercial  center  is 
accessibility.  It  must  be  located  where  people  and  goods  can 
reach  it  easily.  The  size  and  importance  of  the  center  depend 
upon  the  population  and  the  products  of  the  surrounding  terri- 
tory, and  upon  the  means  of  communication  with  other  centers 
and  countries  the  world  over. 

The  Crossroads.  —  The  simplest  example  of  a  trade  center  in  the  United 
States  is  the  country  crossroads  where  two  or  more  highways  meet.  A 
general  store  supplies  the  common  wants  of  the  community  and  a  blacksmith 
carries  on  primitive  industry.  A  schoolhouse  and  a  church  render  the  place 
a  social  as  well  as  an  economic  center.  If  a  railroad  comes  to  the  place,  its 
importance  is  increased  in  proportion  to  the  added  facilities  for  transporta- 

162 


CONDITIONS   OF   CITY   LIFE  163 

tion,  for  the  sale  and  shipment  of  produce,  and  for  the  supply  of  goods  for 
distribution.  The  area  of  the  tributary  territory,  or  commercial  basin 
(p.  149),  of  the  town  depends  upon  the  facilities  for  the  movement  of  goods 
and  people  to  and  from  it.  If  these  are  sufiTicient,  the  town  grows  into  a  city, 
where  many  sorts  of  trade  and  industry  are  carried  on  and  where  people 
throng,  not  only  for  work  and  business,  but  for  pleasure,  luxury,  education, 
culture,  and  other  means  for  fuller  and  better  living.  Everything  depends 
upon  the  advantages  of  location,  and  the  greatest  advantage  of  location  is 
accessibility  by  waterways  and  roads. 

Large  Cities.  —  The  most  favorable  site  for  a  large  city  is 
generally  a  place  where  goods  must  be  transferred  from  one  means 
of  transportation  to  another.  This  is  especially  true  of  seaports, 
lake  ports,  and  towns  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  a  river,  where 
goods  must  be  changed  from  land  to  water  and  from  water  to 
land.  In  the  United  States  no  town  can  be  very  large  without 
a  railroad.  The  rule  is,  railroads  make  a  city  and  a  city  attracts 
railroads.  Thus  cities  and  railroads  increase  and  multiply  to- 
gether indefinitely  until  a  limit  determined  by  other  conditions 
is  reached.  Some  of  these  limiting  conditions  are  the  population 
and  resources  of  the  surrounding  country,  the  presence  or  absence 
of  coal  or  water  power  for  manufacture,  the  growth  of  rival 
cities,  the  presence  of  capital  to  carry  on  business,  the  supply  of 
human  labor,  and  the  degree  of  safety  of  life  and  property  secured 
by  city  government,  sanitation,  and  general  management. 
Every  city  wants  to  grow  larger,  and  does  everything  it  can  to 
attract  new  business  enterprises  and  to  increase  its  population. 

Conditions  of  City  Life.  —  The  conditions  of  urban  Hfe  are  in 
most  respects  very  different  from  those  of  country  life.  A  city 
produces  practically  no  raw  materials  for  food,  clothing,  or  con- 
struction, but  uses  enormous  quantities,  which  must  be  brought 
in,  mostly  from  long  distances.  It  must  be  adequately  and  con- 
stantly fed  with  everything  needed,  and  any  interference  with  the 
regular  supply  may  be  disastrous  to  the  welfare  of  some  or  all 
its  citizens.  When  a  storm  blockades  the  railroads  and  cuts 
off  the  supply  of  milk  for  a  day  or  two,  children  suffer  or  even 


l64  THK    IMIDDLP;    WKST  :    CITIliS 

die  in  consequence.  To  distribute  the  materials  to  every  store, 
factory,  and  household  involves  as  much  labor  and  expense  as 
to  maintain  the  supply. 

The  business  and  public  buildings  on  a  grand  scale  and  the 
thousands  of  residences  which  are  so  conspicuous,  form  perhaps 
the  smaller  part  of  the  engineering  construction  required.  A 
great  city  may  level  hills,  fill  valleys,  bridge  straits,  dam,  deepen, 
or  divert  waterways,  tunnel  through  ridges  and  under  rivers, 
and  obliterate  or  overcome  all  natural  obstacles.  Miles  and 
miles  of  streets  are  graded  and  paved.  They  are  crowded  with 
coach  and  car  lines  for  rapid  movement  of  people,  and  with 
trucks,  drays,  and  wagons  for  the  delivery  of  goods.  Sewers 
for  the  drainage  of  waste,  pipes  for  the  distribution  of  water 
and  gas,  and  conduits  for  electric  cables  and  telegraph  and  tele- 
phone wires  form  underground  systems  of  circulation  comparable 
in  number  and  complexity  with  the  canals,  ducts,  blood  vessels, 
and  nerves  of  the  human  body. 

Sanitation.  —  The  crowding  of  so  many  people  upon  a  small  space 
renders  municipal  problems  especially  difficult.  The  ground  becomes 
saturated,  and  the  streams  and  wells  polluted  with  human  waste  ;  the  air  is 
foul  with  smoke  and  the  products  of  decomposition.  In  such  an  environ- 
ment the  germs  of  disease  breed  and  multiply,  and  are  rapidly  distributed  by 
the  mingling  of  all  sorts  of  people.  The  greatest  municipal  problem  is  sani- 
tation, and  that  depends  on  cleanliness.  The  life  and  health  of  a  city  can  be 
secured  only  by  adequate  sewerage  and  an  abundant  supply  of  pure  water. 
The  prompt  removal  of  garbage  from  every  house,  and  of  filth,  water,  and 
snow  from  the  streets,  the  suppression  of  smoke,  and  the  opening  of  parks 
and  breathing  spaces  in  every  quarter  are  vakiable  means  to  the  same  end. 
A  large  city  finds  it  necessary  to  expend  millions  for  sewers,  water  supply, 
cleaning,  and  parks. 

Business  and  Residence  Districts.  —  A  commercial  city  may  be  divided 
into  business  and  residence  districts  of  various  kinds,  each  occupying  more 
or  less  distinctly  its  own  quarter.  Factories  and  wholesale  houses  are 
usually  distributed  near  the  waterways  and  railways,  by  which  goods  are 
received  and  sent  out,  and  hence  occupy  the  lowlands.  Offices,  banks, 
shops,  and  stores  tend  to  crowd  as  closely  together  as  possible,  each  one  wish- 


CITIES   OF   THI-:    MIDDLE   WEST  165 

ing  to  secure  the  customers  which  visit  the  others.  Hence  the  retail  business 
district  is  the  place  where  land  values  and  rents  are  highest  and  where  the 
population  is  most  dense  by  day,  although  it  is  almost  deserted  at  night. 
The  "  slum  "  district,  where  the  poorest  people  live,  may  be  greatly  congested, 
and  here  the  conditions  of  life  are  necessarily  at  their  worst.  The  good 
residence  districts  occupied  by  people  of  moderate  means  are  the  most 
extensive  of  all  and  cover  a  half  or  three  fourths  of  the  city  site.  In  the  fine 
residence  districts  the  density  of  population  is  least.  These  districts  are 
usually  situated  farthest  from  the  business  center,  gradually  thinning  out 
into  more  or  less  open  suburban  tracts.  The  bicycle,  motorcycle,  auto- 
mobile, and  electric  car  have  greatly  increased  the  convenient  distance 
between  home  and  business,  scattered  the  citizens  out  into  the  suburban 
districts,  and  done  much  to  relieve  urban  congestion.  In  many  cases,  on 
account  of  the  high  cost  of  land  in  the  city,  special  industries  have  been 
located  outside  and  have  built  up  a  distinct,  suburban,  manufacturing 
town . 

Cities  of  the  Middle  West.  —  The  most  striking  change  in  the 
Middle  West  in  the  last  thirty  years  has  been  the  increase  of 
urban  population,  M^hich  has  accompanied  the  growth  of  manu- 
factures and  the  development  of  mineral  resources,  such  as  coal 
and  iron  (p.  133).  While  the  total  population  has  increased  70  per 
cent  since  1880,  the  urban  population  has  increased  216  per  cent 
and  now  amounts  to  43  per  cent  of  the  total.  Of  cities  of  more 
than  10,000  population  there  are  199,  or  one  third  of  the  whole 
number  in  the  United  States.  There  are  74  cities  of  more 
than  25,000  people,  of  which  Ohio  has  14  and  Illinois  has  12. 
Of  cities  of  over  200,000,  Ohio,  Minnesota,  and  Missouri  have 
two  each,  and  Illinois,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Michigan,  and  Wis- 
consin one  each.  There  are  three  cities  which  have  within 
their  municipal  limits  more  than  500,000  people,  one  of  which  has 
more  than  2,000,000.  In  the  study  of  large  cities,  it  is  better  to 
disregard  political  boundaries  and  to  take  into  account  the 
"  metropoHtan  district,"  or  economic  center,  including  all  the 
organized  towns  which  lie  near  the  principal  city  and  have  the 
same  business  interests,  although  they  may  be  in  another  state. 
Out  of  13  metropolitan  districts  of  high  rank  (value  of  manu- 


i66 


rirK    MIDDM'.    WKS'I  :    CI'I'll-.S 


facturcs)  in  the  United  St;ites,  six  are  in  the  Middle  West 
(Table  VII,  Appendix).  'J'he  i)rineipal  cities  may  be  geographically 
grouped  as  (a)  lake  ports,  (b)  river  ports,  and  (c)  inland  cities. 
Chicago.  —  There  is  no  city  in  the  world  looo  miles  from  the 
sea  so  favorably  situated  for  commerce  as  Chicago.  The  south- 
ward extension  of  Lake  Mich- 
igan carries  a  great  waterway 
into  the  heart  of  the  Middle 
West  and  compels  east-west 
lines  of  railroad  to  go  around 
it.  This  simple  fact  of  geo- 
graphical position  makes  a 
great  lake  port  near  its  head 
a  necessity.  Location  in  the 
midst  of  the  richest  grain  and 
stock  belt  of  America,  on  the 
border  between  forest  and 
prairie,  and  about  midway 
between  the  Atlantic  coast 
and  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
marks  the  spot  as  an  almost 
unrivaled  center  for  trade. 
The  supplies  of  timber,  coal, 
iron,  and  copper  within  easy  reach  are  as  extraordinary  as  the 
agricultural  products  and  make  Chicago  a  seat  of  manufacture 
as  naturally  as  it  is  a  mart  of  commerce. 

The  site  of  the  city  was  fixed  on  the  west  shore  by  the  mouth  of  a  small 
river,  which  furnished  a  harbor  and  led  by  an  easy  portage  for  canoes  to  the 
headwaters  of  the  Illmois  River  and  to  the  Mississippi  (Fig.  76).  This  route 
was  used  by  the  Indians  and  its  lake  end  was  the  site  of  a  fur-trading 
post  and  fort.  It  was  not  until  after  the  Northwest  Territory  became  a 
part  of  the  United  States,  that  Chicago  was  even  a  frontier  village.  In 
1850  it  had  a  population  of  only  30,000.  In  rapidity  of  growth  it  surpasses 
all  records,  having  grown  from  a  small  town  to  be  the  second  city  in  America 
and  the  fourth  in  the  world  within  the  memory  of  persons  still  living.     It  has 


Chicago. 


CHICAGO  167 

no  military  or  political  significance,  not  ijcing  even  (he  capital  of  a  state, 
but  it  is  a  typical  example  of  a  metropolis  created  wholly  by  economic  forces. 
The  city  has  spread  out  over  a  low  plain  of  alluvial  and  glacial  clay  and  lake 


Fig.   77. — A  business  street  in  Chicago. 

sand  25  miles  long  and  10  miles  wide.     The  metropolitan  district  borders 
the  lake  shore  for  about  40  miles. 

An  artificial  harbor  has  been  made  by  building  breakwateis  to  protect 
the  mouth  of  the  river,  by  deepening,  widening,  and  straightening  the  little 
stream  and  by  lining  its  banks  with  docks  and  warehouses.     In  South 


l68  THE  MIDDLE   WEST:   CITIES 

Cliicago,  Lake  Calumet  forms  a  secondary  harbor  scarcely  less  important 
than  the  river.  The  two  constitute  one  of  the  great  shipping  ports  of  the 
world,  almost  equaling  in  tonnage  the  foreign  trade  of  London. 

The  business  district  (Fig.  77)  is  centered  in  an  area  of  less  than  two  square 
miles  between  the  river  and  the  lake,  and  is  as  crowded  with  buildings, 
vehicles,  and  people  as  any  similar  place  in  the  world.  The  congestion  has 
been  relieved  by  elevated  railways  for  passengers  and  subways  for  freight. 
The  ground  is  distinctly  unfavorable  for  the  site  of  a  city.  The  original 
surface  was  only  seven  feet  above  the  lake,  but  it  has  been  raised  as  much 
as  ten  feet  by  artificial  filling.  The  foundations  of  large  buildings  have  to  be 
sunk  50  to  100  feet  through  clay  to  bedrock,  or  "  floated  "  on  artificial 
"  pads  "  of  concrete.  Chicago  was  the  original  home  of  the  "  sky-scraper," 
or  building  of  many  stories  sustained  by  a  steel  frame.  It  is  now  sur- 
passed by  other  cities  in  the  number  and  height  of  such  buildings.  Enor- 
mous grain  elevators  having  a  capacity  for  65  million  bushels,  the  largest 
stockyards  in  the  world,  in  which  10  million  animals  are  slaughtered  yearly, 
extensive  lumberyards  and  steel  mills  are  the  features  most  characteristic 
of  the  resources  upon  which  the  city  is  founded. 

The  residence  districts  lie  30  to  75  feet  above  the  lake  and  are 
unevenly  built  up,  including  many  sparsely  settled  areas.  They  contain  a 
system  of  parks  covering  more  than  3000  acres  and  broad  boulevards  along 
the  lake  shore  and  in  a  connected  circuit  of  60  miles.  The  system  is 
planned  to  include,  when  completed,  35,000  acres. 

Trade  and  Manufacture.  —  Thirty-nine  railw^ay  lines  make 
Chicago  the  greatest  railway  center  in  the  world,  and  these  com- 
bined with  the  shipping  on  the  lake  give  it  unequaled  facilities 
for  receiving  and  distributing  goods.  It  is  the  largest  grain  mar- 
ket in  America.  Its  annual  wholesale  trade  is  estimated  at  1800 
million  dollars.  The  conditions  which  promote  trade  are  equally 
favorable  for  manufacture,  in  which  it  is  second  only  to  New 
York.  The  value  of  goods  manufactured  in  the  Chicago  metro- 
politan district  is  1400  milUon  dollars  a  year,  or  one  fifth  of  the 
total  for  the  Middle  West.  The  leading  industry,  slaughter- 
ing and  meat  packing,  yields  nearly  one  fourth  of  the  total 
value  of  manufactures  in  the  district.  Next  in  order  are  foundry 
and  machine  shop  products,  clothing,  printing,  iron  and  steel, 
carSj  lumber,  electrical  appUances,  soap,  and  furniture,  which 


CHICAGO 


169 


make  up  more  than  half  of  the  whole.  Rolling  mills  at  South 
Chicago  and  blast  furnaces  and  steel  mills  at  Gary,  15 
miles  east,  are  among  the  largest  in  the  country.  The  Chicago 
district  ranks  first  in  blast  furnace  products. 

Public  works.  —  Among  the  notable  public  works  of  Chicago  are  the  har- 
bors and  docks,  tunnels  under  the  river,  and  bridges  which  swing  or  lift  to 
permit  v'essels  to  pass.  More  than  800  miles  of  railroad  track  have  been 
elevated  or  depressed  from  street  grade,  and  subways  connect  the  freight 
stations  of  all  the  railways  with  the  basements  of  factories,  stores,  and  hotels. 
Even  more  remarkable  than  these  are  the  provisions  for  water  supply  and 
sewerage.  Water  is  pumped  from  Lake  Michigan  through  17  miles  of 
tunnels  leading  under  the  lake  bottom  to  intake  "  cribs  "  two  to  five  miles 
from  the  shore.  This  device  was  necessary  in  order  to  secure  a  supply  of 
pure  water,  free  from  contamination  by  the  waste  of  the  city,  which  was  orig- 
inally drained  into  the  lake.  Even  this  was  not  sutScient,  and  between  1892 
and  iQOo  a  drainage  canal  (Fig.  78)  was  built  at  a  cost  of  $35,000,000  to  carry 


Fig.  78 


Chicago  drainage  canal.      Note  the  bridge  which  swinj; 
the  left  bank  to  let  boats  pass. 


the  sewage  away  from  the  lake.  It  is  22  feet  deep  and  28  and  a  half 
miles  long,  and  through  it  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan  flow  to  the 
Illinois  and  Mississippi.  The  canal  is  also  used  by  the  city  for  hydraulic 
power  and  may  in  future  become  a  part  of  a  ship  canal  leading  to  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  It  is  already  connected  by  a  seven-foot  barge  canal  with  the 
Mississippi  at  Rock  Island. 


170 


TllK    MIDDI.i;    WKST:    CITIES 


Population.  —  More  than  three  fourths  of  the  population  of 
Chicago  are  foreign-born  immigrants  or  the  children  of  immi- 
grants, and  include  nearly  every  race,  language,  and  nationality 
in  the  world.  One  fourth  of  the  foreign  population  is  German. 
The  number  of  famiUes  to  each  dwelling  averages  1.7. 

Cleveland.  —  The  third  city  and  second  lake  port  of  the  Middle 
West  is  situated  at  the  extreme  southeastern  point  of  the  shore 
of  Lake  Eric  and  is  the  end  of  one  of  the  largest  strands  into  which 
lake  routes  divide  (Fig.  73).  It  is  the  principal  port  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh coal  and  iron  district  (p.  208),  and  shares  with  that  city 
in  the  mineral  industries.  Its  relations  to  the  Atlantic  seaports 
in  distance  and  railway  connections  are  so  advantageous  that  a 
large  portion  of  the  through  freight  from  the  upper  lakes  is  here 
transferred  from  vessels  to  cars.  It  is  in  a  direct  line  and  about 
one  third  of  the  distance  by  rail  from  Chicago  to  New  York. 
Five  of  the  great  east-west  railroad  systems  pass  through  it. 

Site.  —  Cleveland  is  built  on  both  sides  of  the  Cuyahoga  River 
at  its  mouth  and  covers  the  blufTs  and  plateau  which  rise  75  to 
200  feet  above  the  lake.     The  river  valley,  about  half  a  mile 

wide,  admits  vessels  and  trains  to  the 
heart  of  the  city  and  is  occupied  by 
docks,  depots,  factories,  furnaces,  and 
lumberyards.' 


FiG.   79.  —  Cleveland. 


Public  Works.  —  The  harbor  of  Cleveland, 
like  nearly  all  harbors  on  the  lakes,  is  largely 
artificial  (Fig.  79).  By  the  construction 
of  breakwaters  around  the  mouth  of  the 
Cuyahoga  River  and  by  the  deepening  of 
its  channel,  more  than  a  square  mile  of  protected  deep  water  and  13 
miles  of  docks  are  provided.  The  principal  streets  radiate  from  a  public 
square  at  the  business  center.  Three  viaducts,  each  more  than  half  a  mile 
long,  carrying  streets  across  the  valley,  are  conspicuous  features.  Six  public 
buildings  of  granite  are  grouped  around  a  mall  upon  the  bluff  overlooking 
the  lake.  The  water  supply  is  pumped  from  an  intake  crib  five  miles 
from  shore. 


DETROIT 


171 


Commerce  and  hiduslry.  -  Cleveland  is  the  largest  market  for 
iron  ore  and  fresh-water  fish  in  America.  The  shipping  of  the 
port  amounts  to  13  million  tons  annually.  Its  most  important 
manufactures  arc  of  iron,  steel,  foundry  products,  and  machinery, 
especially  wire,  nails,  bolts,  carriage  hardware,  bridges,  boilers, 
engines,  car  wheels,  and  ships.  Automobiles,  clothing,  meats, 
and  oils  refined  from  petroleum  are  also  important  products. 

Detroit.  —  A  frontier  post,  originally  established  by  the 
French  for  military  and  trading  purposes,  has  grown  to  be  a 
peer  of  Cleveland  among  lake  ports. 
The  gap  of  about  80  miles  between 
Lake  Huron  and  Lake  Erie  permits 
the  passage  of  railroads  connecting 
the  Middle  West  with  southern 
Canada.  Thus  Detroit,  situated  upon 
the  river  which  connects  the  upper 
with  the  lower  lakes,  is  primarily 
a  crossroads  city,  where  the  lake 
route   is  crossed  by    five    east-west    trunk    Knes  of  railway. 

Site.  —  The  city  extends  along  the  right  bank  of  the  Detroit  River  about 
ten  miles  and  nearly  as  far  inland  (Fig.  80).  The  ground  is  smooth  and  rises 
gradually  from  the  river  bank.  Wide  avenues  radiate  from  a  focus  near  the 
river,  intersecting  the  rectangular  streets.  An  island  in  the  river  having 
an  area  of  700  acres  forms  the  uniriuo  and  especially  attractive  Belle  Isle 
Park. 

Commerce  and  Industry.  — ^  About  35,000  vessels  pass  Detroit 
annually,  having  a  tonnage  of  about  60,000,000.  Besides  the 
through  freight  by  rail  which  crosses  both  the  Detroit  and  Niagara 
rivers  to  New  York  and  New  England,  commerce  with  Canada 
is  larger  than  that  of  any  other  lake  port.  The  river  is  about 
half  a  mile  wide,  30  to  50  feet  deep,  and  has  a  swift  current. 
Passenger  and  freight  trains  are  ferried  across  sometimes  with 
considerable  delay,  especially  in  winter.  A  double  steel  and  con- 
crete tunnel  a  mile  and  a  half  long  now  connects  the  city  with 


Fig.  80.  —  Detroit. 


172 


TIIK    MIDDl.i:    WKST:    CITIES 


Windsor  on  the  Canadian  side.  Detroit  suri)asscs  all  other  cities 
in  the  making  of  autoniohiles,  the  annual  value  of  its  outj)Ut 
being  about  ,S  163, 000, 000.  It  is  also  the  seat  of  extensive  indus- 
tries in  cars,  ships,  stoves,  drugs,  alkalies,  tobacco,  and  matches. 
Milwaukee.  —  A  curv^  bay  and  river  mouth  on  the  west 
shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  85- miles  north  of  Chicago,  was  the  site 


Fig.   81.  —  Milwaukee,  with  city  hall  in  the  center. 

of  an  early  fur-trading  post,  which  has  grown  into  a  large  city 
(Fig.  81).  The  harbor  and  river  resemble  those  of  Chicago, 
but  the  site  is  naturally  more  favorable.  The  land  stands  about 
100  feet  above  the  lake  and  is  intersected  by  three  valleys  which 
admit  the  lake  shipping  and  accommodate  most  of  the  factories. 
The  metropolitan  district  includes  five  suburban  towns  given 
largely  to  manufacture.  There  are  four  trunk  lines  of  railroad, 
two  of  which  ferry  trains  across  the  lake  in  winter. 

Commerce  and  Industry.  —  Milwaukee  is  the  commercial  center 


TOLEDO 


173 


of  Wisconsin  and  a  distributing  point  for  the  northwestern  states. 
Its  shipping  tonnage  nearly  equals  that  of  the  Chicago  district. 
Elevators  are  provided  for  grain  and  storage  docks  for  coal,  both 
of  which  are  very  capacious.  The  leading  industrial  establish- 
ments are  breweries,  tanneries,  machine  shops,  and  steel  mills. 
The  city  stands  first  in  the  United  States  in  the  tanning  of 
leather  and  third 
in  brewing.  Clay 
beds  near  the  city 
furnish  material 
for  the  famous 
cream-colored  Mil- 
waukee brick. 

Nearly  four 
fifths  of  the  popu- 
lation are  of  for- 
eign parentage  and 
44  per  cent  of 
German. 

Other  Lake  Ports. 
—  Some  cities  of  mod- 
erate size  are  of  special 
interest  and  impor- 
tance. Among  the 
lake  ports  are  Toledo 
and  Duluth-Superior 
(Fig.  82). 

Toledo,  on  the 
Maumee  River,  near 

the  head  of  Maumee  Bay,  and  at  the  west  end  of  Lake  Erie,  has  an  excellent 
natural  harbor,  but  it  is  ofT  the  main  route  of  lake  commerce.  It  is 
reached  by  the  largest  vessels  and  has  20  miles  of  docks.  It  was  the  lake 
terminus  of  the  old  Wabash  and  Erie,  and  Miami  and  Erie  canals  and  is 
a  favorable  point  for  future  connection  by  water  with  the  Ohio  River. 
Thirteen  steam  roads  and  ten  electric  lines  give  it  unusual  advantages  for 
commerce.     It  is  related  to  the  rich  agricultural  district  behind  it  much  as 


Fig.  82.  —  Duluth-Superior. 


174 


THE  MiDDij",  WEST:  (:rni:s 


Chicago  is  lo  a  larger  area.     Flour,  petroleum,  building  supplies,  plate  glass, 
and  boats  are  among  its  special  line  of  manufacture. 

Duluth-Superior.  —These  twin  cities  in  different  stales,  on  a  line  harbor 
at  the  head  of  Lake  Superior,  have  the  distinction  of  being  the  chief  shipping 
ports  for  the  iron  ore  of  the  Superior  district  (p.  137)  and  the  grain  of  the 
Red  River  valley.     They  are  connected  by  two  trunk  lines  with  the  Pacific 


-ana'rii;«W>.fei«si*ni« 


Fii..  .Sv 


A  lak. 


iiig  loaded  with  iron  ore  at  the  docks  of  Duluth. 


coast  and  do  a  large  business  in  lumber  and  coal.     The  St.  Louis  River 
furnishes  water  power  for  flour,  lumber,  and  steel  mills.     (See  Figs.  82,  83.) 

St.  Louis.  —  That  there  should  be  a  great  city  near  the  con- 
fluence of  the  three  principal  branches  of  the  Mississippi  system 
is  a  result  of  natural  causes.  A  trading  post  and  mihtary  station 
just  below  the  mouths  of  the  Missouri  and  lUinois  rivers  and  only 
1 50  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  was  established  while  the 
Middle  West  was  British  and  Spanish  territory.  This  focus 
of  exploration  and  trade,  where  the  water  routes  from  the  Appa- 
lachians, the  Great  Lakes,  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, and  the  upper  Mississippi  converge,  was  of  prime  strategic 


ST.    LOUIS 


175 


and  commercial  importance.  When  the  Mississippi  basin  was 
added  to  the  United  States,  St.  Louis  became  its  metropoHs. 
From  the  advent  of  steamboats  in  1825  until  the  Civil  War, 
the  city  enjoyed  great  pros- 
perity and  was  a  successful 
rival  of  Chicago.  The  closing 
of  communication  with  the 
southern  seaboard  put  an  end 
to  that  resource,  and  the  ex- 
tension of  railroads  has  re- 
duced traffic  by  water  to  small 
importance. 

Site.  —  St.  Louis  extends  from  a  Fig.  84 

river  front  of  19  miles  on  the  right 

bank  of  the  Mississippi  up  a  bluff  and  over  a  rolling  upland  100  to  200 
feet  above  the  river.  The  natural  drainage  is  good  and  the  valley  of  a  small 
creek  furnishes  an  inlet  for  railways  from  the  west.  Roads  from  the  east  cross 
the  "  American  bottoms,"  a  part  of  the  flood  plain  of  the  river  ten  miles 
wide,  occupied  in  part  by  East  St.  Louis,  and  reach  the  city  by  two  bridges 
about  one  third  of  a  mile  long  (Figs.  84,  85).  All  passenger  trains  enter  a 
Union  Station  which  covers  eleven  acres  and  is  one  of  the  largest  in  the  world. 


Fig.  85.  —  Eads  bridge,  St.  Louis. 


176  THE    MIDDLK    WKST  :    CITIKS 

Trade  and  Maiin/iKinrc.  St.  Louis  is  second  only  to  Chicago 
as  a  railway  center,  being  a  terminus  of  some  twenty  systems. 
The  manufactures  in  the  metropolitan  district  are  valued  at  430 
million  dollars  annually.  They  include  slaughtering  and  meat 
packing,  boots  and  shoes,  malt  licjuors,  tobacco,  foundry  and 
machine  shop  products,  clothing,  iron  and  steel,  chemicals,  lum- 
ber, flour,  furniture,  and  paints.  It  is  a  distributing  point  for 
its  own  products  and  for  grain,  live  stock,  cotton,  dry  goods, 
groceries,  hardware,  and  agricultural  implements. 

Public  Works.  —  The  city  park  system  includes  nearly  3000  acres,  a 
Botanical  Garden,  and  a  boulevard  traversing  the  city  parallel  with  the  river. 
The  water  supply  from  the  Mississippi  is  inexhaustible,  and  after  removal  of 
sediment  is  pure  and  healthful. 

Population.  — ■  More  than  half  the  people  of  St.  Louis  are  of  foreign 
birth  or  parentage,  and  of  these  44  per  cent  are  German. 

Minneapolis-St.  PauL  —  Falls  and  rapids  in  the  Mississippi 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Minnesota,  locating  the  natural  head  of 
navigation  and  a  source  of  water  power,  are  the  features  which 
determine  the  site  of  the  twin  cities  of  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul. 
An  early  French  trading  post,  and  later  a  fort  for  the  control  of  the 
Indians,  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids,  and  a  sawmill  at  the  falls 
12  miles  above,  established  two  economic  centers,  which  were 
vigorous  rivals  until  the  development  of  both  made  them  more 
friendly.  Before  the  Civil  War  they  were  frontier  towns  de- 
pendent upon  the  river  for  communication.  Railroad  connec- 
tions and  the  settlement  of  farm  lands,  especially  the  wheatlands 
of  the  Red  River  valley,  led  to  commercial  and  industrial  growth 
until  the  two  adjoining  municipaUties  now  constitute  a  single 
metropolitan  district  with  a  division  of  functions. 

Site.  —  The  cities  occupy  the  limestone  bluffs  and  plateau  about  200  feet 
high  on  both  sides  of  the  river  and  include  a  large  number  and  variety  of 
attractive  features.  Numerous  glacial  lakes  within  the  city  limits  add 
beauty  to  the  park  system.     The  valleys,  islands,  and  bluffs  of  the  two  rivers, 


MINNEAPOLIS-ST.    PAUL 


177 


the  falls  of  Minnehaha,  the  Fort  Snelling  Military  Reservation,  and  Lake 
Minnetonka,  15  miles  long,  lie  within  the  district.  The  natural  opportu- 
nities for  wide  avenues,  boulevards,  parks,  and  picturesque  residence  sites 
have  been  fully  utilized.     (Sec  Fig.  86.) 

Commerce  and  Industry.  —  The  two  cities  have  the  same  rail- 
road systems  and  are  connected  by  a  belt  line  for  freight  and 


Fig.  86. — -Minneapolis-St.  Paul  and  vicinity. 


by  four  interurban  passenger  lines.  Nine  trunk  roads  connect 
them  with  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Lake  Superior,  the  Pacific 
coast,  and  Canada.  Four  of  these  are  transcontinental.  The 
Mississippi  River  is  spanned  by  22  bridges,  varying  in  length 
from  one  fourth  to  a  half  mile.  Minneapolis  is  the  industrial 
city,  famous  as  the  greatest  lumber  and  flour  center  in  the  world. 
Forty  thousand  horse  power  from  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  and 
25,000  from  Taylor's  Falls  in  the  St.  Croix  River  run  22  mills, 
having  a  daily  capacity  of  80,000  barrels  of  flour.     Rarely  in  the 


ELEM.   ECON.    GEOG. 


178  THE    MIDDI.I';    WKST:    CITIKS 

world  do  natural  resources  for  produi  lion,  and  i)o\ver  for  jjrepara- 
lioii  of  protlucts  occur  togclher  so  happily  as  the  wheat  helds  and 
falls  of  Minnesota.  Minneapolis  is  the  greatest  primary  wheat 
market  in  the  United  States,  handling  more  than  100  million 
bushels  a  year.  The  river  brings  down  from  the  northern  forests 
booms  of  logs  from  which  the  sawmills  cut  575  million  feet  of 
lumber. 

St.  Paul  is  the  capital  of  the  state  and  the  wholesale  distribut- 
ing center  of  the  northwest.     It  is  also  an  important  fur  market. 

Kansas  City.  —  A  town  at  the  great  eastward  bend  of  the 
Missouri  was  naturally  the  river  terminus  for  the  overland  stage 
and  wagon  route  to  the  southwest  and  California,  the  famous 
''  Santa  Fe  trail."  After  a  long  rivalry  with  other  cities  Kansas 
City,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kansas,  or  Kaw  River,  has  outgrown 
its  neighbors  and  become  a  rival  of  St.  Louis.  This  result  is 
not  due  to  the  river  trade,  which  is  trifling,  but  to  17  lines  of 
railway  which  maintain  its  supremacy  as  the  gateway  of  the 
southwest.  The  high  bluffs  and  deep  ravines  have  been  graded 
for  streets  and  buildings,  while  the  lowlands  along  both  rivers 
are  occupied  by  freight  terminals,  stockyards,  elevators,  factories, 
and  wholesale  houses.  The  ci\'il  city  is  double,  the  smaller 
member  being  on  the  Kansas  side  of  the  Kaw  and  connected  with 
the  larger  by  a  viaduct  nearly  two  miles  long  from  bluff  to  bluff. 
The  metropolitan  district  is  second  only  to  Chicago  as  a  live- 
stock market,  and  in  value  of  meat  products. 

Omaha,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri  near  the  mouth  of  the  Platte, 
was  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  Salt  Lake  and  Oregon  trail,  over  which 
thousands  of  emigrants  set  out  on  their  journey  across  the  plains.  It  was 
also  the  terminus  of  the  Union  Pacific,  the  first  railroad  to  the  Pacific  coast. 
Nine  railroad  systems  now  cross  the  river  at  this  point.  The  suburban 
city  of  South  Omaha  ranks  next  after  Chicago  and  Kansas  City  in  slaughter- 
ing and  meat  packing. 

Cincinnati.  —  An  intersection  of  waterways  at  the  northern 
bend  of  the  Ohio,  where  it  approaches  the  Great  Lakes,  is  a 


CINCINNATI 


179 


natural  location  for  a  large  city.  Cincinnati  covers  the  flood 
plain,  terraces,  and  bluffs  of  the  Ohio  valley  and  has  a  river 
frontage  of  about  14  miles.  The  low  bottom  lands  are  sub- 
ject to  floods,  but  on  account  of  convenience  for  river  trade 
are  occupied  by  factories  and  wholesale  houses.  The  retail 
business  district  is  largely  situated  upon  a  terrace  about  60 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


Fig.  87.  —  Cincinnati. 


feet  above  low  water.  The  residence  districts  occupy  a  higher 
terrace  and  bluffs,  400  to  460  feet  high,  commanding  views  of 
the  vafley,  river,  city,  and  surrounding  heights.     (See  Fig.  87.) 

The  Kentucky  towns  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  Covington  and  New- 
port, are  connected  with  the  city  by  bridges  nearly  half  a  mile  long  and  are 
included  in  the  metropoHtan  district.  Cincinnati  formerly  owed  its  pros- 
perity to  the  business  brought  by  the  river  and  by  the  Miami  and  Erie 


l8o  THE   MIDDLE   WEST:   CITIES 

Canal  from  Toledo,  l)ut  its  railroad  connections  arc  now  far  more  important. 
It  is  reached  by  six  cast-west  trunk  lines  and  an  equal  number  of  roads 
to  the  north  and  south.  The  city  has  the  distinction  of  having  built  for  itself, 
as  a  municipal  enterprise,  the  Cincinnati  Southern  Railway  to  Chattanooga. 
The  river  trade  in  coal,  iron,  and  lumber  is  still  large.  The  United  States 
Government  is  building  a  series  of  dams  in  the  Ohio  which,  when  completed, 
will  maintain  a  depth  of  nine  feet,  and  increase  river  transportation. 

Industries.  —  Previous  to  the  Civil  War,  Cincinnati  was  fa- 
mous for  pork  packing,  but  has  long  been  surpassed  in  that  by 
Chicago.  The  special  lines  of  manufacture  in  the  metropolitan 
district  are  now  clothing,  boots  and  shoes,  liquors,  wagons,  furni- 
ture, soap,  tobacco,  and  artistic  pottery.  The  city  is  noted  for 
its  zoological  garden,  art  museum,  music  hall,  annual  musical 
festivals,  and  its  municipal  university,  estabHshed  and  maintained 
by  the  city  for  the  free  tuition  of  its  youthful  citizens.  Some  of 
these  institutions  are  due  to  the  large  population  of  German 
descent,  which  forms  nearly  one  quarter  of  the  whole. 

Louisville.  —  The  so-called  "  Falls  of  the  Ohio,"  really  rapids  where  the 
Ohio  descends  26  feet  in  two  miles,  determine  the  location  of  Louisville. 
It  is  built  upon  a  gravel  plain  60  feet  above  low  water  and  inclosed  by  bluffs. 
It  is  the  metropolis  of  Kentucky  and  an  important  river  port  and  railroad 
center,  having  five  east-west  and  four  north-south  lines.  Three  bridges 
connect  it  with  New  Albany  and  Jeffersonville  on  the  Indiana  side  of  the 
river.  It  handles  more  tobacco  than  any  other  American  city.  The  value 
of  tobacco  and  bourbon  whisky  manufactured  equals  $25,000,000  annually. 

Indianapolis.  —  The  best  example  of  a  strictly  inland  railroad  center  in 
America  is  Indianapolis.  It  was  located  in  the  woods  near  the  center  of 
Indiana  by  legislative  act  as  the  state  capital.  It  has  neither  waterways 
nor  water  power,  but  is  near  the  Eastern  Interior  coal  field  (p.  194)  and  in  the 
midst  of  a  rich  agricultural  region.  It  is  a  creation  of  the  railroads  of  which 
15  lines  of  steam  road  and  12  of  electric  interurban  road  radiate  from  it 
like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel.  As  a  manufacturing  and  distributing  center  it 
has  no  inland  equal  in  the  Middle  West.  Its  economic,  political,  and  social 
influence  in  the  state  is  greater  than  that  of  any  other  state  capital. 

Summary.  —  Cities  are  the  most  complex  of  economic  prod- 
ucts, but  the  reasons  for  their  existence,  in  each  case,   can  be 


QUESTIONS  l8l 

easily  discovered.  The  necessary  conditions  are  productive 
territory  and  accessible  site.  They  are  reservoirs  of  concentrated 
population  and  wealth.  The  Middle  West  has  seven  first-class 
cities  and  nearly  200  smaller  ones.  Chicago  is  the  second  city 
in  the  United  States  in  population,  manufacture,  and  commerce. 
Cleveland,  Detroit,  and  Milwaukee  are  great  lake  ports.  St. 
Louis,  Cincinnati,  and  Minneapolis-St.  Paul  are  the  largest 
river  ports. 

Economic  Rank  of  the  Middle  West. — The  Middle  West, 
considered  as  an  economic  unit,  belongs  to  the  fourth  and 
highest  class  of  complex  societies  (p.  93)  and  in  this  respect 
resembles  the  United  States  as  a  whole  more  than  does  any 
other  economic  region. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  are  some  of  the  advantages  of  city  life  as  compared  with  Hfe  in 
the  country?  the  disadvantages? 

2.  Is  there  usually  room  enough  in  the  principal  business  streets  of  a  city? 
How  can  more  room  be  utilized  ? 

3.  Describe  the  features  of  an  ideal  city  street. 

4.  Compare  the  advantages  of  the  usual  rectangular  pattern  of  city 
streets  with  those  of  the  spider-web  plan,  in  which  the  main  streets  radiate 
from  a  central  space. 

5.  To  what  uses  are  river  banks  commonly  put  in  cities? 

6.  What  is  meant  by  "  the  smoke  nuisance  "? 

7.  Why  do  most  of  the  citizens  of  every  city  want  it  to  grow  larger? 

8.  Why  must  a  large  city  be  constantly  supplied  from  the  country  not 
only  with  food  and  raw  materials  but  also  with  people? 

Q.  If  the  urban  population  of  the  Middle  West  ever  greatly  exceeds  the 
rural,  to  what  class  of  economic  societies  will  it  then  belong? 

10.  Why  does  the  Middle  West  represent  the  highest  class  of  economic 
societies? 


CHAPTER   XV 
THE    EASTERN    STATES 

Boundaries.  —  The  natural  boundaries  of  this  economic  region 
are  on  the  east  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  on  the  north  the  St. 
Lawrence  River  and  lower  Great  Lakes.  On  the  west  the  region 
extends  to  the  upper  Ohio  River  and  the  edge  of  the  Cumber- 
land Plateau.  The  southern  boundary  is  climatic  and  therefore 
indefinite,  but  is  near  the  hmit  of  seven  months  without  frost  and 
of  the  cotton  belt.  It  includes  the  six  New  England  States, 
Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
and  Rhode  Island,  the  seven  so-called  Middle  States,  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  and 
West  Virginia,  and  the  District  of  Columbia  ^  (Figs.  30,  33, 
35^  88). 

The  Eastern  States  contain  the  largest  commercial  centers 
and  industrial  districts  of  the  United  States,  and  are  consequently 
more  densely  populated  than  any  other  region.  While  the  area 
is  less  than  one  twelfth  of  the  United  States,  the  population  is 
more  than  one  third.  The  urban  population  amounts  to  67 
per  cent  and  of  employed  persons  40  per  cent  are  engaged  in 
manufacture  (Figs.  34,  36,  37). 

Economic  Character.  —  The  economic  character  of  the  region 
is  due  alrrjost  wholly  to  natural  causes. 

I.  Location.  — Every  state  except  three  has  a  seaboard  on  the  Atlantic, 
deeply  indented  with  bays  and  inlets,  which  admit  the  tide  far  up  the  valleys 
and  form  some  of  the  most  commodious  harbors  in  the  world.     These  ports 

^  The  group  of  the  Eastern  States  corresponds  to  the  New  England  and  Middle 
Atlantic  groups  of  the  Census  Bureau  with  the  border  states  of  the  South  Atlantic 
group  added. 

182 


RELIEF  183 

arc  about  3000  miles,  or  five  to  ten  days'  voyage  by  steamer,  from  the  ports 
of  Europe. 

2.  Relief  and  Structure.  —  About  two  thirds  of  the  area  is  a  moderately 
rugged  highland,  diversified  by  knobs,  knots,  and  ridges,  which  are  the 
stumps  of  worn-down  mountains.  This  highland  contains  the  most  valuable 
beds  of  coal  in  America.  The  streams  flowing  from  it  have  steep  slopes  and 
narrow  valleys,  and  are,  therefore,  available  for  water  power.  The  numerous 
glacial  lakes  act  as  storage  reservoirs  to  equalize  the  flow  of  streams. 

3.  Forests.  —  The  region  was  originally  covered  with  coniferous  forest 
in  the  north,  changing  gradually  through  mixed  forest  to  deciduous  hard- 
wood timber  in  the  south. 

4.  Food  Supply.  —  Easy  routes  of  communication  by  land  and  water 
with  the  Middle  West  insure  a  large  and  constant  supply  of  food  for  the 
people  who  can  produce  little. 

5.  Labor  Supply.  — •  Millions  of  immigrants  from  Europe  land  at  the 
Atlantic  ports  and  furnish  an  abundant  supply  of  cheap  labor. 

6.  Markets.  —  Ocean  vessels,  lake  vessels,  canal  boats,  and  railroad  trains 
transport  raw  materials  and  finished  products,  by  land  and  water,  to  and 
from  the  greatest  markets  of  the  world. 

Relief.  — ■  The  New  England  Plateau.  —  The  northern  part 
of  the  Appalachian  Highland  (Fig.  ^^)  east  of  the  Hudson  River 
and  north  of  the  Mohawk  consists  of  the  New  England  Plateau 
and  the  Adirondack  Mountains,  which  are  remnants  of  old  moun- 
tain ranges  from  which  layers  of  rock,  thousands  of  feet  in  thick- 
ness, have  been  removed.  The  last  important  work  of  the  agents 
of  erosion  was  done  by  continental  ice  sheets,  which  wore  off  the 
sharp  points  and  angles,  rounded  the  summits,  and  rubbed  down 
and  polished  the  whole  surface.  Valleys  were  deepened  into 
hollows  and  dammed  with  drift.  These  basins  hold  the  waters  of 
thousands  of  small  lakes.  The  higher  places  were  swept  nearly 
bare  of  mantle  rock  and  the  drift  left  on  the  slopes  is  thin  and 
coarse.  The  surface  is  in  many  places  thickly  strewn  with 
bowlders. 

In  northern  New  England  the  hills  are  large,  rising  here 
and  there  to  mountainous  heights  which  occur  generally  in 
isolated  knots.     The  Katahdin  group  in  northern  Maine,  the 


1 84  Till';  i;Asri:RN  statks 

White  Mountains  of  New  llamj)sliin.',  and  the  AcHrondacks  of 
New  York  contain  peaks  about  one  mile  high  (Mt.  Washington 
6279  feet).  The  Green  Mountains  of  Vermont  are  lower  and 
form  a  range  extending  southward  into  Massachusetts  and 
northward  into  Canada.  In  southern  New  England  the  plateau 
is  nearly  level-topped,  with  a  gentle  slope  to  the  south,  and  is 
dissected  by  narrow  valleys  into  a  surface  of  moderate  roughness. 
The  glacial  drift  is  ridged  up  into  many  parallel,  half-melon 
shaped  hills  called  drumlins.  The  region  is  crossed  by  two  great 
valleys.  The  Connecticut  valley  south  of  Vermont  is  cut  out  of 
soft  rocks  to  a  width  of  several  miles.  The  Hudson-Champlain 
valley  in  New  York  is  a  continuous  depression  forming  a  gap 
through  the  highland  and  an  easy  route  by  land  or  water  from  the 
sea  to  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  Mohawk  valley  is  a  similar  and 
even  more  important  pass  westward  from  the  Hudson  to  lakes 
Ontario  and  Erie. 

The  Northern  Appalachians.  —  South  of  the  Hudson-Mohawk 
gap,  the  highland  consists  of  a  central  mountain  belt  flanked  by 
a  plateau  on  each  side.  The  central  belt,  50  to  75  miles  wide, 
consists  of  hundreds  of  parallel  ridges  and  valleys  which  occupy 
southeastern  New  York,  northern  New  Jersey,  eastern  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  western  Maryland  and  Virginia.  The  ridges  have 
smooth,  symmetrical  slopes  and  even  crests,  and  extend  in 
straight  or  gently  curved  lines,  like  a  wall.  They  are  10  to  50 
miles  long  and  1000  to  4000  feet  high.  South  of  the  Potomac  River, 
the  easternmost  ridge  is  more  massive  than  the  others  and  is 
called  the  Blue  Ridge.  It  is  separated  from  the  other  ridges  by  an 
unusually  wide  interval  known  as  the  Great  Appalachian  Valley. 

The  Plateaus.  —  The  central  belt  is  bordered  upon  the  west 
by  the  Appalachian  Plateau,  which  occupies  southern  New  York, 
western  Pennsylvania,  and  West  Virginia.  The  general  surface 
slopes  gently  northwestward  to  the  plains  of  central  Ohio  and 
Kentucky,  but  is  deeply  dissected  by  the  tributaries  of  the  Ohio, 
and  is  the   roughest  and  most  difficult   part  of  the  highland 


DRAINAGE  185 

(p.  37).  The  abrupt  eastern  edge  of  the  plateau  is  called  in 
New  York  the  Catskill  Mountains,  in  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia 
the  Allegheny  Mountains,  and  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee 
the  Cumberland  Mountains. 

East  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  the  low  Piedmont  Plateau,  25  to  125 
miles  wide  and  resembling  southern  New  England,  extends  from 
New  York  to  Alabama.  The  seaward  margin  of  the  plateau  is 
marked  by  the  Fall  Line,  where  falls  or  rapids  occur  in  every 
stream  which  crosses  it. 

The  Plains.  —  The  space  between  the  Fall  Line  and  the 
coast  is  occupied  by  the  Coastal  Plain.  It  has  been  recently 
elevated  above  the  sea  and  is  covered  with  soft  and  unconsoli- 
dated sediments.  Its  slope  is  so  gentle  that  the  streams  which 
cross  it  are  sluggish  and  admit  the  tide  far  inland.  Hence  this 
plain  is  often  called  the  tidewater  region. 

The  Lake  Plain.  —  In  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio 
the  space  between  the  northern  edge  of  the  Appalachian  Plateau 
and  lakes  Ontario  and  Erie  is  a  plain  of  glacial  drift  and  lake 
silts.  In  New  York  the  drift  is  heaped  up  into  thousands  of 
drumlins,  and  the  plateau  edge  is  cut  by  deep,  narrow  valleys 
opening  northward,  which  contain  the  basins  of  the  Finger  Lakes. 
This  region  is  one  of  the  best  for  fruit,  grain,  and  potatoes. 

Soils.  — In  contrast  with  the  Middle  West,  where  the  surface  and  soil 

are  nearly  uniform  over  large  areas,  the  Eastern  States  present  a  great 

\    variety  in  a  small  space.     South  of  the  glacial  boundary  (Fig.  t,^),  the  soil 

\   varies  with  the  kind  of  bedrock  beneath  it,  being  generally  poor  on  sand- 

\  stone  and  good  on  shale_and  limestone.     On  the  high  mountains  and    steep 

i  slopes,  there  islfttle  but  bare  rock,  and  on  the  hills  and  ridges  the  soil  is 

\  generally  poor  and  thin.     Most  of  the  Coastal  Plain  is  too  sandy  to  be  pro- 

)  ductive.     The  Piedmont  Plateau  has  soils  derived  from  granite  which  are 

;  good  for  wheat,  tobacco,  and  cotton.     The  valleys  between  the  mountain 

ridges  are  broad  and  fertile. 


I 


Drainage.  —  The  principal  streams  of  the  Eastern  States  rise 
near  the  inland  border  of  the  region  and  cut  across  the  plateaus 


1 86 


1 88  Till-:  i:Asri:RN  statks 

and  ridges  to  the  sea.     The  gateways  by  which  they  flow  through 
the  ridges  are   called  water   gaps  and  afford  easy   passage  for 
railroads  and  canals.     Their  lower  valleys  are  all  drowned  below 
sea  level  and  admit  shipping  far  inland.     Thus  the  river  valleys 
bring  together  the  traffic  of  land  and  sea.     In  Maine,  the  Penob- 
scot and  the  Kennebec  drain  tangled  chains  of  lakes  and  reach 
sea  level  at  Bangor  and  Augusta,  each  about  50  miles  from  its 
mouth.     Although  the  Connecticut  is  the  longest  river  in  New 
iMTgland,  it  is  of  little  use  for  navigation.     The  lower  Hudson 
is  not  a  river,  but  a  deep  arm  of  the  sea  as  far  as  Troy,  150  miles 
from  New  York  Bay.     The  lower  seventy  miles  of  the  Delaware 
River  is  a  bay  admitting  the  largest  vessels  to  Philadelphia. 
The  drowning  of  the  Susquehanna  and  its  tributaries  has  made 
Chesapeake  Bay  with  its  arms,  extending  ocean  navigation   to 
Baltimore,  Washington,  and  Richmond. 
/^    Coast  Line.  —  The  subsidence  or  drowning  of  the  coast  has 
(   made  it  much  indented.     The  New  England  coast  is  generally 
\  rock-bound  except  around  Cape  Cod  Bay  and  peninsula.     In 
Maine  it  is  broken  by  fiords,  or  deep,  narrow  channels,  into 
peninsulas  and  islands.     Harbors  are  very  numerous  and  some 
1   of  the  smaller  ones  are  most  useful,  as  Portland,  Portsmouth, 
Gloucester,    Boston,    and   Narragansett.     Cape    Cod   Bay   and 
canal,   Buzzards   Bay,   and  Long   Island   Sound  constitute  an 
"  inside  passage  "  between  New  York  and  New  England  ports. 
New  York  Bay  accommodates  more  shipping  than  any  other 
harbor  in  the  world.     From  Long  Island  southward  the  coast  is 
low  and  sandy.     The  mainland  is  bordered  by  marshes  and  shal- 
low lagoons,  outside  of  which  sand  bars  thrown  up  by  the  waves 
form  an  almost  continuous  barrier  beach.     Such  a  coast  would 
shut  out  ocean  commerce  if  it  were  not  broken  by  the  great  inlets 
of  Delaware  and  Chesapeake. 
^    Climate.  —  The  chmate  of  the  Eastern  States  does  not  differ 
y  much  from  that  of  the  eastern  part  of  the  Middle  West  in  the 
same   latitudes.     The  highlands   are   colder   and  have  heavier 


< 


QUESTIONS  189 

rainfall  than  the  lowlands  around  them.  In  the  north,  the 
winters  arc  severe  on  account  of  the  north  and  northwest  winds 
which  bring  cold  air  from  the  interior.  The  summers  are  warm 
because  the  winds  are  west  and  southwest  and  bring  heated  con- 
tinental air  to  the  coast.  The  moderating  influence  of  the  Atlan- 
tic Ocean  is  shght.  New  York  and  New  England  He  in  the  track 
of  most  of  the  cyclonic  storms  that  sweep  across  the  continent 
and  bring  in  winter  heavy  falls  of  snow.  The  annual  rainfall 
varies  from  30  inches  in  the  northwest  to  about  50  inches  on  the 
coast  (Fig.  29).  About  one  half  of  it  falls  in'  the  growing  season, 
which  increases  in  length  from  five  months  in  the  northwest  to 
seven  months  in  the  southeast  (Fig.  30) .  A  cold  current  washes 
the  coast  as  far  south  as  Cape  Cod  and  helps  to  produce  much 
cloudy  and  foggy  weather. 

Summary.  —  The  Eastern  States  form  a  small  but  populous 
economic  region,  comparatively  unfavorable  for  agriculture,  but 
having  every  advantage  for  manufacture  and  commerce. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Which  of  the  natural  conditions  given  on  page  81  is  absolutely  indis- 
pensable for  the  existence  of  great  manufactures  in  the  Eastern  States?  for 
the  existence  of  large  commerce? 

2.  If  the  coast  line  lay  along  the  foot  of  the  highlands,  what  difference 
would  it  make  in  the  economy  of  the  Eastern  States? 

3.  How  do  the  streams  of  the  Eastern  States  help  manufacture  and 
commerce  ? 

4.  How  does  nearness  to  Europe  affect  the  life  and  character  of  people 
in  the  Eastern  States? 

5.  What  natural  conditions  in  the  Eastern  States  favor  an  excess  of  urban 
over  rural  population? 


CHAPTER   XVI 


THE  EASTERN  STATES:    MINERAL  AND  FOREST  PRODUCTS 


YEAR 
1870  1875  1880  1885  1890  1895  1900  1905  1910  1915  1920 
_ —1600 


500  P 


Coal.  —  The  economy  of  the  Eastern  States  is  based  upon 
mines,  water  power,  and  the  sea.  Among  mineral  products, 
coal  used  for  power,  and  in  metal  working  is  far  the  most  im- 
portant. While  water  power  and  wind  power  were  used  for  ages 
before  coal  was  burned  and  are  still  used  in  many  localities,  the 
industry  and  commerce  of  the  present  time  are  almost  entirely 

dependent  upon  coal. 
Without  it  factories 
could  not  be  run,  rail- 
roads and  steamships 
would  be  tied  up,  cities 
at  night  would  be  in 
darkness,  and  their 
inhabitants  would  be 
idle.  Industrial  com- 
munities would  face 
starvation  because 
their  food  supplies 
must  be  brought  from  regions  hundreds  or  thousands  of  miles 
distant.  If  unemployed,  they  would  have  no  means  of  buying 
what  might  be  at  hand.  To  the  human  life  of  the  Eastern  States, 
coal  is  as  necessary  as  bread. 

The  first  coal  used  in  America  was  from  a  small  field  near 
Richmond,  Va.  The  quantity  mined  in  the  United  States  has 
increased  in  a  century  from  50,000  tons  a  year  to  more  than 
500  million  tons,  or  live  tons  for  every  man,  woman,  and  child 

190 


1870  1875    1880   1885   1890    1895   1900   1905   1910    1915  1920 

Fig.   89.  —  Production  of  coal  in  United  States, 
1870-1913. 


COAL 


191 


(Fig.  89).     This  amounts  to  about  two  fifths  of  all  the  coal  used 
in  the  world. 

The  Appalachian  coal  field  (Fig.  96)  covers  western  Pennsyl- 
vania, eastern  Ohio,  West  Virginia,  and  eastern  Kentucky,  and 
extends  through  Tennessee  to  central  Alabama.  The  bituminous 
or  soft  coal  of  this  field  is  of  excellent  quality  for  making  steam  in 
engine  boilers.  The  total  quantity  mined  in  1913  was  478  million 
tons,  of  which  the  Eastern  States  produced  more  than  half. 

Bituminous  coal  occurs  in  horizontal  beds  or  seams,  of  which  there  are 
usually  many  underlying  the  same  area.  The  seams  vary  in  thickness  from 
a  few  inches  to  fifteen  or  twenty  feet,  but  a  seam  less  than  four  feet  thick  is 
difficult  to  work.     Coal  seams  sometimes  outcrop  (Fig.  qc^  on  the  sides  of  a 


I'ir..  90.  —  Outcropping  seam  of  coal  in  Pennsylvania. 


valley  and  are  worked  by  direct  tunneling.  Usually  shafts  are  sunk  to  reach 
them  and  "  drifts  "  or  tunnels  are  run  at  different  levels  in  all  directions. 
The  coal  is  broken  up  by  drilling  and  blasting,  drawn  on  small  cars  to  the 
shaft,  and  hoisted  to  the  surface.  In  some  mines,  mules  are  used  to  draw 
the  cars,  but  in  a  well  equipped  mine,  electric  power,  generated  by  an  engine 
at  the  surface,  is  used  for  hauling,  hoisting,  pumping  out  water,  blowing  in 
air  for  ventilation,  and  lighting  the  mine.     If  the  overlying  rock  is  not  strong. 


192    THE   EASTERN   STATES:   MINERAL   AND    I'ORIIST    PRODUCTS 

timbers  must  be  used  to  support  I  he  roof  of  the  mine.  Also  for  this  purpose, 
pillars  of  eoal  are  left  between  the  "  rooms  "  or  spaces  excavated.  These 
cannot  be  removed  and  from  one  fourth  to  one  half  of  the  seam  is  thus  left 
in  the  ground.  Such  waste  is  sometimes  avoided  by  lilling  the  space  with 
earth  and  broken  rock. 

Anthracite,  or  hard  coal,  is  much  heavier  than  bituminous,  and 
its  value  per  ton  is  about  twice  as  great.  It  burns  with  little 
smoke  or  flame  and  makes  a  very  hot  lire.  It  occurs  in  a  region  of 
much  disturbed  and  folded  rocks  in  northeastern  Pennsylvania 
occupying  only  480  square  miles.  Some  of  the  seams  are  50 
feet  thick  and  outcrop  at  the  surface.  Anthracite  is  mined  in 
the  same  way  as  bituminous  coal,  but  after  being  hoisted  to  the 
surface  it  has  to  be  assorted  partly  by  hand  (Fig.  91).  The  pro- 
duct in  1913  was  nearly  92  million  tons.     Pennsylvania  anthra- 


FiG.  91.  —  Power  house  and  breaker  of  an  anthracite  mine,  Pennsylvania. 

cite  is  carried  by  rail  to  the  Atlantic  seaports  and  thence  by 
water  to  New  England.  In  the  Eastern  States  it  is  used  for 
domestic  purposes  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  soft  coal.  The  city 
of  New  York  uses  about  12  miUion  tons  a  year.     Anthracite  also 


COKE   AND    GAS 


193 


goes  to  the  Great  Lake  ports  and  is  thence  distributed  through 
the  Middle  West,  where  on  account  of  the  cost  of  carriage  it 
is  a  luxury. 

The  bituminous  coal  of  the  Appalachian  field  is  distributed  all 
over  the  Eastern  States  for  use  in  the  boilers  of  stationary  and 
locomotive  engines.  It  is  floated  in  barges  down  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  rivers,  and  carried  by  rail  and  water  as  far  as  the 
western  lake  ports.  Steam  coal  and  the  coke  made  from  it 
sustain  the  iron  man- 
ufacturing districts 
from  Pittsburgh  and 
Buffalo  to  Chicago 
and  Duluth. 

Coke  and  Gas.  —  About 
one  seventh  of  the  bitu- 
minous coal  is  made  into 
coke  by  heating  in  retorts 
or  ovens  (Fig  92).  Gases 
are  driven  off  and  a  soHd 
fuel,  which  is  harder  and 
makes  a  hotter   fire   than 

natural  coal,  remains.  It  is  indispensable  in  the  smelting  of  iron.  The 
gases  are  in  most  cases  wasted,  but  in  cities  are  purified  and  used  for  light- 
ing and  cooking.  Coal  tar  and  ammonia  may  be  extracted  from  them. 
Coal  of  inferior  quaUty  is  heated  to  make  "  producer  "  gas,  which  can 
be  used  without  purification  in  gas  engines  and  furnaces.  "  Culm  and 
slack,"  waste  products  of  the  mines  too  finely  divided  for  ordinary  use, 
may  be  compressed  into  "  briquettes  "  or  lumps  of  any  convenient  size 
and  thus  made  available. 

Coal  tar,  formerly  a  waste  product,  is  now  the  source  of  a  very  large 
number  of  drugs,  dyes,  and  chemicals  of  the  highest  importance  in  the 
manufacture  of  medicines,  textiles,  knit  goods,  and  explosives.  The  coal-tar 
industry  has  been  most  highly  developed  by  the  Germans,  who  have  hitherto 
held  almost  a  monopoly  of  the  business.  Recently  "  by-product  "  coke 
ovens  have  been  built  in  the  Eastern  States  and  the  coal  tar  obtained 
from  them  is  being  utilized  in  the  manufacture  of  chemicals.  In  this  line 
the  United  States  may  soon  be  self-supporting. 


Fig.  g2.  —  Coke  ovens. 


194    THE    KASTKRN   STATKS  :    MINIIRAI-    AND    FOKIiST    I'RODUCTS 


UNITED  STATES... 
Pennsylvania  0 


Anthracite 
Bituminous 

West  Virginia. 

Illinois. 

Ohio 

Kentucky    

Alabama 

Indiana 

All  othera 


570, 

100 

91, 

J-.— 173, 

._.71, 
...61, 
...36, 
...19, 
..-17, 
.--17 
...81, 


048.125 

.TOi922 
781.217 
308.982 
618,744 
200.527 
616.600 
678.522 
165.671 
152.940 


100 


Fig.  93.  —  Production  of  coal,  by  states  (1913),  in  millions  of  short  tons. 

Coal  Fields  of  the  United  States.  —  The  coal  fields  of  the 
United  States  are  the  largest  and  most  productive  in  the  world. 
(See  Figs.  23,  96.)  They  cover  496,000  square  miles  and  are 
estimated  to  contain  3,000,000  millions  of  tons.  They  are 
divided  into  six  provinces : 

I.  The  Eastern  Province  includes  the  Appalachian  field  and  lies  in  the 
states  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Ala- 
bama, Virginia,  and  North  Carolina.  It  furnishes  nearly  seven  tenths  of 
all  the  coal  mined. 

2.  The  Interior  Province  includes  several  distinct  regions.  The  Eastern 
Interior  Region  in  Illinois,  Indiana,  and  Kentucky  furnishes  about  18  per 
cent,  and  the  Western  Interior  Region  in  Iowa,  Missouri,  Nebraska,  Kansas, 
Arkansas,  and  Oklahoma  6  per  cent.  The  Northern  Interior  Region  in 
Michigan,  and  the  Southwestern  in  Texas  are  of  less  importance. 

3  and  4.  In  the  Gulf  Province  in  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Arkansas,  and  Texas,  and  the  Northern  Province  in  North  Dakota,  South 
Dakota,  Wyoming,  and  Montana,  the  coal  is  of  an  inferior  quality  called 
lignite. 

5.  The  Rocky  Mountain  Province  in  Montana,  Wyoming,  Utah,  Col- 
orado, and  New  Mexico  furnishes  about  6  per  cent,  some  of  which  is 
anthracite. 

6.  The  Pacific  Coast  Province  in  Washington  and  Oregon  is  of  small  extent 
and  value. 


In  general  the  quality  of  the  coal  declines  from  east  to  west. 
Nevertheless,  it  is  all  of  great  local  value  and  importance,  and 


MINING   AND    MINERS 


195 


maintains  industry  and  transportation  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Mining  and  Miners.  —  Coal  mining  is  a  somewhat  undesirable  and 
dangerous  occupation.  Few  men  would  prefer  to  work  in  dark,  damp 
chambers  underground.  Currents  of  fresh  air  must  be  blown  through  the 
mine  to  prevent  the  accumulation  of  gases,  which  may  smother  the  miners 
or  explode  with  great  violence  and  loss  of  life.  In  the  Eastern  States,  the 
mines  are  worked  almost  entirely  by  foreign  immigrants  and  their  im- 
mediate descendants.  It  is 
a  great  field  for  unskilled 
labor  at  wages  which 
are  larger  than  can  be  ob- 
tained in  older  countries. 
In  many  cases  the  miners 
occupy  houses  built  and 
owned  by  the  company 
which  employs  them,  and 
depend  upon  company 
stores  to  supply  their 
wants.  In  the  Appala- 
chian Plateau  the  mines 
are  generally  difficult  of 
access.  The  railroads 
follow  the  narrow  valleys 
and  ascend  steep  grades  to  reach  the  coal  outcrop.  There  is  not  room  in 
the  valley  bottoms  for  houses,  which  are  consequently  perched  on  the 
slopes. 

The  exact  methods  by  which  mining  shall  be  done,  the  hours  of  work,  the 
amount  and  time  of  payment  of  wages,  the  provisions  for  safety  of  life  and 
limb,  the  housing  of  the  miners  and  their  families,  the  sanitary  and  educa- 
tional conditions  of  a  mining  community  (Fig.  95),  all  give  rise  to  many 
problems  which  are  difficult  of  adjustment,  and  lead  to  strikes  in  which  all 
or  most  of  the  miners  refuse  to  work  until  the  matters  in  dispute  are  settled. 
The  miners  have  generally  organized  themselves  into  unions,  the  members 
of  which  are  bound  to  support  one  another,  and  to  prevent  men  who  do  not 
belong  to  the  union  from  being  employed.  The  economic  life  of  the  whole 
community  is  so  dependent  upon  a  large  and  constant  supply  of  coal  that  a 
general  strike  of  the  miners,  interfering  with  industry  and  transportation,  is 
a  serious  calamity.     The  courts  of  law  and  sometimes  the  military  forces  of 


1880 
Fig 


1885 
94-- 


1890      1895      1900      1905      1910      1915     19S0 


Total  mineral  production  of  United  States, 
1SS0-1913. 


196    Till'.    KASTI:RN   STATKS  :    MTNKRAL    AND    FORF.ST   PRODUCTS 

the  state  arc  calk'd  upan  to  protect  property  and  i^reservc  order  until  the 
miners  and  thi'ir  employers  can  eonie  to  an  aj^reenient. 


Fig.  95.  —  Coal-mining  town  in  West  Virginia. 

Petroleum.  —  Oil  is  obtained  from  wells  drilled  into  bedrock, 
generally  several  hundred  or  even  a  thousand  feet  or  more  in 
depth.  It  has  accumulated  in  porous  strata  along  with  gas  and 
salt  water.  If  there  is  a  cover  of  impervious  rock,  the  gas  pres- 
sure is  in  many  cases  sufficient  to  drive  the  oil  out,  producing  a 
flowing  well  or  "  gusher."  Most  wells  have  to  be  pumped 
sooner  or  later,  and  in  time  the  oil  is  exhausted  and  the  well 
yields  only  salt  water.  The  crude  oil  from  the  well  is  a  thick, 
dark  colored,  and  ill  smelling  liquid.  It  is  stored  in  steel  tanks 
or  temporarily  in  open  pools,  and  pumped  through  pipe  lines  laid 
underground  to  refineries.  By  heating  the  oil  and  cooling  the 
vapors  given  ofT,  it  is  split  up  into  many  products,  of  which 
gasoline,  kerosene,  lubricating  oil,  and  solid  parafhn  and  asphalt 
are  the  most  important. 

Kerosene  is  the  material  most  widely  used  for  lighting  and  has  largely  dis- 
placed all  other  illuminants  in  every  continent.     Perhaps  no  other  utensil 


OIL   FIELDS  197 

has  contributed  so  much  to  the  comfort  and  welfare  of  milHons  of  families  as 
the  coal  oil  lamp.  Gasoline  has  in  recent  years  become  scarcely  less  im- 
portant on  account  of  its  use  in  engines  which  require  no  furnace  or  boiler, 
and  obtain  their  power  directly  from  the  fuel  without  the  intervention  of 
steam.  They  make  possible  this  age  of  the  automobile,  auto  truck,  motor 
boat,  motor  cycle,  and  aeroplane.  The  gas  engine  has  displaced  the  steam 
engine  and  the  windmill  for  many  purposes.  The  invention  of  the  Diesel 
marine  engine  makes  it  possible  to  burn  crude  oil  in  the  place  of  gasoline 
and  to  reduce  the  cost  of  transportation  by  water.  Engines  are  also  coming 
into  extensive  use  in  which  crude  petroleum  is  consumed  for  making  steam. 
In  southwestern  United  States,  where  coal  is  lacking,  petroleum  is  used  for 
firing  locomotive  engines.  Modern  warships  are  equipped  for  oil  fuel  be- 
cause it  takes  up  less  space  than  coal  and  is  more  conveniently  handled. 

Oil  Fields.  —  The  first  oil  wells  in  the  United  States  were 
bored  in  Pennsylvania  about  i860.  The  Appalachian  field 
was  extended  to  southwestern  New  York,  eastern  Ohio,  and 
western  West  Virginia,  and  reached  its  largest  yield  between  1880 
and  1900.  During  this  period,  it  furnished  from  100  to  50  per 
cent  of  the  total  product  of  the  United  States.  Between  1885 
and  1905,  a  field  in  western  Ohio  and  eastern  Indiana  was  very 
productive.  Since  1900,  wells  in  Texas,  Kansas,  Oklahoma,  Cali- 
fornia, and  Illinois  (Fig.  96)  have  equaled  or  surpassed  all  pre- 
vious yields.  The  "  life  "  of  an  oil  field,  or  its  period  of  great 
productiveness,  lasts  from  a  few  years  to  about  twenty-five  years. 
Although  new  fields  should  be  discovered,  the  supply  of  petroleum 
in  the  United  States  can  hardly  be  expected  to  remain  plentiful 
longer  than  about  a  century.  It  is  impossible  to  foresee  what 
will  be  used  for  lighting  and  lubrication  when  the  petroleum  is 
exhausted.     In  engines  alcohol  may  be  used  instead  of  gasoline. 

Petroleum  is  transported  in  tank  cars,  tank  steamers,  and  pipes.  About 
8000  miles  of  trunk  pipe  line  connect  the  oil  fields  with  Atlantic  and  Gulf 
seaports  and  ports  on  the  Great  Lakes.  Extensive  oil  refineries  have  been 
established  near  Chicago  and  Cleveland,  and  at  Bayonne,  N.  J. 

Among  foreign  oil  fields,  the  Russian  along  the  Caucasus  Mountains 
and  the  Mexican  are  the  only  ones  that  rival  those  of  the  United  States. 

ELEM.    ECON.    GEOG.  —  12 


IqS    Till':    KASTERN   STATES:   MINER/VL   AND    FOREST   PRODUCTS 

Of  ihe  world  su[)|)l\,   the   United  Stales  furnishes  about  65  per  cent  and 
Russia  about  20  per  cent. 

Refined  oil  ranks  fourth  in  value  among  exports  from  the  United  States 
and  shares  with  American  cotton  and  copper  the  distinction  of  being  a  prod- 
uct which  the  world  could  hardly  do  without.  American  oil  goes  to  almost 
every  part  of  the  world  except  Russia,  and  in  some  countries  the  empty 
cans  in  which  it  has  been  received  are  prized  for  domestic  use. 


Fig.  96.  —  Fuel  resources  of  the  United  States. 


Natural  Gas.  —  The  best  and  cheapest  of  all  fuels  is  gas,  be- 
cause of  its  high  heating  power,  cleanliness,  and  convenience. 
It  usually  escapes  from  wells  before  the  flow  of  oil  begins.  The 
first  gas  wells  to  be  utilized  were  in  western  New  York  and  Penn- 
sylvania, and  later  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  West  Virginia,  and  Okla- 
homa (Fig.  96).  Gas  has  greatly  stimulated  manufactures  in  the 
gas  fields,  especially  of  glass  and  iron,  and  has  been  piped  to  all  the 
principal  cities  for  boiler  and  domestic  use.  Storage  of  gas  is  diffi- 
cult, and  probably  one  half  of  the  whole  supply  has  been  wasted. 
The  life  of  a  gas  well  is  short,  and  any  field  is  likely  to  be  exhausted 
in  twenty  years.     This  addition  to  the  already  Uberal  supply 


BRICK  199 

of  fuel  in  the  coal  and  oil  fields  cannot  be  expected  to  prove 
more  than  temporary. 

Brick,  Stone,  and  Cement.  —  In  the  development  of  a  forested 
country  like  the  Atlantic  division  of  the  United  States,  buildings 
are  almost  exclusively  of  wood.  The  log  cabin  of  the  pioneer 
could  be  completed  without  the  use  of  a  nail  or  any  other  metal, 
the  only  mineral  matter  required  being  the  hearthstone  and  mud 
for  a  chimney.  The  wooden  frame  house  still  prevails  through- 
out the  country.  It  is  relatively  cheap,  very  comfortable,  and,  if 
cared  for,  durable.  Its  worst  defect  is  its  liability  to  destruction 
by  fire.  In  the  arid  and  semiarid  parts  of  the  world  and  in  old 
and  densely  populated  countries,  wood  is  scarce  and  costly,  and 
building  materials  are  obtained  chiefly  from  the  earth  crust. 
In  western  Europe,  wooden  houses  are  rare  or  of  local  occurrence, 
as  in  Switzerland  and  Norway.  Field  and  quarry  stone  are  used 
wherever  available,  and  in  other  places  brick.  Houses  are  built 
to  stand  for  centuries,  and  fires  are  infrequent.  In  the  United 
States,  until  recently,  brick  and  stone  have  been  used  chiefly 
in  the  business  districts  of  cities  and  for  large  public  buildings. 
Probably  nine  tenths  of  the  homes  are  still  within  wooden  walls. 
The  scarcity  and  high  price  of  lumber  have  brought  at  least  the 
Eastern  States  to  a  period  of  change  and  a  rapidly  increasing  use 
of  brick,  stone,  and  cement. 

Brick.  — •  Clay  suitable  for  making  common  brick  is  widely  distributed,  so 
that  almost  every  community  has  its  own  brickyards.  The  output  is 
roughly  proportioned  to  the  density  of  population,  and,  therefore,  is  greatest 
near  large  cities.  The  most  extensive  brick  industry  is  carried  on  in  the 
Hudson  valley.  Numerous  deposits  of  clay  made  by  former  streams  empty- 
ing into  the  Hudson  estuary  have  been  raised  by  crustal  movements  100  to  300 
feet  above  tide.  The  output  of  the  Hudson  district  is  one  tenth  that  of 
the  whole  United  States.  The  bricks  are  floated  on  barges  to  build  the 
great  city  of  New  York,  which  requires  1000  million  every  year.  The 
clay  is  thoroughly  kneaded,  mixed  with  a  little  sand,  run  into  molds,  dried, 
and  burned  in  a  kiln.  Pressed  brick,  vitrified  or  specially  hardened  brick, 
and  brick  of  peculiar  colors  are  used  for  facing  fine  houses.     Fire  brick  made 


200    THE   EASTERN   STATES:   MINERAL   AND    FOREST   PRODUCTS 

from  clay  wliiih  underlies  coal  scams  is  used  for  lining  furnaces  and  stoves. 
In  many  works,  shale  rock  is  ground  and  made  into  paving  Ijrick,  tile,  and 
sewer  pipe. 

Stone.  —  Good  building  stone  is  less  common  than  brick  clay, 
and  it  costs  more  to  quarry  it  than  to  make  brick.  Hence 
stone  is  not  used  so  much  as  brick,  except  in  foundations.  The 
cost  of  transportation  usually  confines  the  use  of  stone  to  a  terri- 
tory not  far  from  the  quarry.  Yet  there  are  some  varieties 
which,  on  account  of  their  beauty,  durability,  or  other  peculiar 
quality,  find  a  wide  market  in  spite  of  their  cost.  Among  these 
are  granite,  slate,  and  marble.  In  the  last  ten  years,  the  value  of 
the  building  stone  used  in  the  United  States  has  increased  65 
per  cent. 

Extensive  erosion  in  the  Appalachian  plateaus  and  mountains 
has  exposed  on  the  surface  many  rocks  not  found  on  the 
plains.  The  value  of  the  quarry  products  of  the  Eastern  States 
is  nearly  one  half  that  of  the  whole  United  States. 

Granite.  —  The  "  granite  hills  "  of  New  England  contain  inexhaustible 
resources  of  rock  of  excellent  quality,  much  of  which  is  so  near  the  coast 
that  it  can  be  shipped  by  water.  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Maine,  and  New 
Hampshire  produce  more  than  40  per  cent  of  the  total  output.  The  hard- 
ness of  granite  makes  the  work  of  quarrying,  cutting,  and  dressing  difBcult 
and  costly,  but  the  rock  takes  and  retains  a  high  polish  which  brings  out  a 
mottled  pattern  of  colors.  It  is  used  chiefly  for  columns,  arches,  trimmings, 
and  other  ornamental  parts  of  buildings  and  for  monuments.  The  gray, 
reddish,  and  other  mottled  stones  in  cemeteries  are  varieties  of  granite.  A 
very  durable  pavement  is  made  of  granite  blocks. 

Slate  occurs  only  in  regions  where  the  earth  crust  has  been  subjected  to 
great  disturbance.  It  splits  naturally  into  thin,  smooth  sheets  which  form 
first-class  material  for  roofing,  table  tops,  and  blackboards.  It  is  more 
easily  quarried  and  worked  than  granite,  and  is  shipped  long  distances, 
even  across  the  ocean.  The  Eastern  States  have  a  monopoly  of  slate  pro- 
duction, Pennsylvania  and  Vermont  furnishing  nearly  nine  tenths  of  the 
whole  supply. 

Limestones  are  abundant  and  widely  distributed  rocks,  exhibiting  a 
great  variety  of  qualities  and  colors.     They  are  all  relatively  soft  and 


CEMENT 


20I 


easily  worked,  and  the  best  are  beautiful  and  durable.     They  nearly  equal  in 

value  all  other  quarry  products  combined.     Large  quantities  are  "  burned  " 

or  heated  in  kilns  for  the  manufacture  of  mortar  and  cement.     The  limestone 

most     widely      used     for 

building    is    the    Bedford 

stone  of  southern  Indiana, 

which  can  be  quarried  in 

solid     blocks     of    almost 

any    thickness,    cut    with 

wire  saws,  and  turned  in 

a   lathe   (Fig.   97).      It  is 

shipped    to   nearly    every 

state  and  even  to  Europe. 

Marble  is  a  compact, 
crystalline  limestone, 
highly  valued  for  its  color, 
fine  grain,  and  surface 
when  polished.  Large  buildings  are  sometimes  built  of  marble,  but  it  is 
used  chiefly  for  ornamental  work.  The  most  productive  marble  quarries 
are  at  Proctor,  Vt.  (Fig.  98).  The  finest  statuary  marble  is  imported  from 
Carrara,  Italy. 

Sandstones  are  quarried  in  great  variety  but  are  of  less  value  for  building 
than  other  stones.  Some  from  Ohio  rival  the  finest  limestone.  Many  of 
the  best  are  brown  or  reddish  in  color  and  known  as  brownstone. 

Trap,  a  volcanic  rock,  occurs  in  dikes  or  walls  cutting  through  other 
rocks,  notably  in  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut.  When  broken  in  pieces 
of  proper  size,  it  forms  excellent  road  metal. 

The  economic  importance  of  common  sand  and  gravel  used  in  building 
and  road  making  should  not  be  overlooked.  Complete  statistics  are  not 
available,  but  they  exceed  in  quantity  used,  and  perhaps  in  value,  all  other 
nonmetallic  minerals  except  fuels. 


Fig.  97. 


Limestone  columns  turned  in  a  lathe,  Bed- 
ford, Indiana. 


Cement.  —  The  increase  in  the  use  of  cement  (p.  142)  from 
about  one  milhon  barrels  a  year  in  1895  to  more  than  80  milUon 
barrels  in  191 2  is  one  of  the  most  significant  events  in  the  eco- 
nomic development  of  the  United  States.  It  is  a  direct  and  fortu- 
nate answer  to  the  serious  scarcity  and  increasing  cost  of  timber. 
Improvements  in  methods  of  manufacture  have  reduced  the  cost 
of  cement  from  three  dollars  to  less  than  one  dollar  a  barrel. 


202   nil';  i;Asri:RN  sr.vi-iis:  MiNi;kAi.  and  lokiosr  i'Roducts 


P'iG.  q8.  —  Marble  quarry,  Proctor,  Vermont. 


FOREST   PRODUCTS 


203 


The  cement  industry,  like  brick  making,  is  widely  distributed  because 
lime,  clay,  and  fuel  can  be  had  in  almost  every  state.  The  demand  for 
cement  is  greatest  in  large  cities  and  the  production  is  largely  controlled  by 
density  of  population.  Pennsylvania  has  led  all  the  states  from  the  first ; 
Indiana  has  recently  acquired  second  place.  The  Eastern  States  produce 
over  two  lifths  of  the  total  output.  When  the  United  States  Government 
undertook  the  construction  of  the  great  Roosevelt  dam  and  irrigation  canal 
in  Arizona,  it  established  a  cement  factory  on  the  spot.  Such  an  expedient 
is  likely  to  be  repeated  almost  anywhere,  when  the  occasion  arises. 

UNITED  STATES. $2,084,103,175 

q  100  200  300  '  400  500 

Pennsylvania . 
West  Virginia 

Illinois 

Ohio 

California 

Minnesota 

Oklahoma 

Michigan 

Arizona. 

All  others 


143.211 
429,705 
132,263 


300 


500 


Fig.  gg. — Value  of  minerals  produced  by  states  (191  j),  in  millions  of  dollars.  (See  Table 

VI,  Appendix.) 


Forest  Products.  —  The  use  of  wood  for  fuel  and  construction 
is  universal,  and  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  how  men  could  live  with- 
out it.  Forests  naturally  prevail  from  the  equator  to  the  arctic 
circle  and  from  sea  level  to  high  mountain  crests,  covering  more 
than  one  half  the  land  area.  Large  trees  will  grow  on  soils  and 
slopes  where  nothing  else  of  value  can  live.  The  great  northern 
coniferous  forest  (Fig.  6i)  originally  extended  over  the  Eastern 
States,  becoming  mixed  with  hardwood  trees  toward  the  south. 

The  history  of  the  settlement  of  the  region  is  a  story  of  struggle 
with  the  forest  which  had  to  be  cleared  to  make  room  for  crops. 
This  struggle  lasted  about  two  centuries,  at  the  end  of  which 
forest  destruction  had  progressed  so  far  that  the  demand  for 
timber  and  lumber  exceeded  the  home  supply.  Since  1870  the 
upper  lakes  region  of  the  Middle  West,  and  the  Southern  States 
have  supplied  the  deficiency.     As  the  yield  of  the  lakes  region 


204    THE   EASTERN  STATES:   MINERAL   AND    TORKST   PRODUCTS 

has  decreased  tliat  of  tlie  south  has  increased  and  tliere  is  now  a 
large  shipment  from  the  Pacific  coast.  About  40  per  cent  of 
the  total  forest  product  is  used  for  firewood  and  nearly  as  much 
for  lumber,  while  poles,  fencing,  and  railroad  ties  are  large  items. 
About  one  eighth  is  ground  into  pulp  for  paper  making. 

Forest  Conservation.  —  The  increasing  demand  for  wood  in  many  forms 
can  be  met  in  two  ways:  (i)  by  the  substitution  of  other  materials  in  the 
place  of  wood,  and  (2)  by  the  conservation  of  forests.  Of  substitution,  the 
use  of  coal  for  fuel,  of  steel,  brick,  cement,  and  concrete  (Fig.  100)  for  build- 


FiG.   100.  —  A  concrete  railroad  bridge.     Tunkhannock  viaduct,  Pennsylvania. 

ing,  of  wire  for  fencing,  of  glass  or  metal  for  ties,  and  of  steel  for  cars  and 
furniture,  are  examples.  Conservation  means  the  cutting  of  timber  without 
waste  or  injury  to  standing  trees,  the  prevention  of  forest  fires,  and  the  re- 
planting of  land  already  cleared,  much  of  which  is  useless  for  other  purposes. 
Limbs  and  tops  of  trees  may  be  converted  into  charcoal  or  distilled  for  wood 
alcohol.  A  forest  or  wood  lot  should  receive  the  same  intelligent  care  as  an 
orchard.  Only  by  the  practice  of  the  art  of  scientific  forestry  can  the  future 
timber  supply  of  the  United  States  be  made  to  meet  the  demand.  Without 
it  the  country  will  soon  be  dependent  upon  Canada  or  some  other  foreign 
source.  The  Eastern  States  still  furnish  nearly  15  per  cent  of  the  forest 
products  of  the  United  States.     (See  Fig.  10 1.) 

Summary.  —  The  Eastern  States  contain  the  richest  anthra- 
cite field  yet  worked  in  the  world  and  one  of  the  best  bitu- 
minous coal  fields.  These,  together  with  petroleum,  natural  gas, 
clay,  and  stone,  furnish  the  foundation  for  manufacture  and  con- 
struction on  the  largest  scale. 


QUESTIONS 


205 


UNITED  STATES 0 

Natural  gas 

Coal 

Pig  iron 

Stone 

Cement 

Sand  and  gravel 

Clay  prod  ucts 

Petroleum  (value).— 

All  minerals 

Timber  and  lumber 


0 


PER  CENT 
40  50        _60_ 


Fig.  ioi. 


10  20  30  40  50  60  70  80  90         10 

Rank  of  Eastern  States  in  mineral  and  forest  products.     (See  Tabic  IV, 
Appendix.) 


QUESTIONS 

1.  Will  the  coal  fields  of  the  Eastern  States  ever  be  exhausted?  What 
can  be  done  to  conserve  the  supply  ? 

2.  If  coal  should  become  scarce  and  costly,  what  would  be  the  effect 
upon  business  and  population? 

3.  Would  it  be  a  good  plan  for  the  Federal  Government  to  operate  the 
mines  and  control  the  distribution  of  coal? 

4.  How  were  streets  and  houses  lighted  before  coal  gas  and  petroleum 
were  discovered? 

.   5.  What  mineral  resources  are  inexhaustible? 

6.  What  is  being  done  in  your  state  for  the  conservation  of  forests? 

7.  Look  up  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the  phrases  "  stump  speaking," 
"  log  rolling,"  "  taking  to  the  tall  timber."  Why  did  they  originate  in  the 
Appalachian  region  ? 


CHAPTER  XVII 
THE   EASTERN    STATES:     MANUFACTURES 

The  geographical  conditions  which  make  possible  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  Eastern  States  in  manufactures  have  been  given  on 
pp.  182-183.  Nearly  all  lines  of  industry  are  represented,  and 
most  of  them  on  the  largest  scale.  Table  V  in  the  Appendix 
and  Fig.  122  show  the  very  high  rank  held  by  this  region  in  the 
production  of  basic  materials,  such  as  pig  iron,  cotton  cloth, 
woolens,  silk,  leather,  and  paper  and  also  of  finished  products, 
such  as  steel,  glass,  chemicals,  cordage,  clothing,  carpets,  hosiery, 
boots  and  shoes,  gloves  and  mittens,  and  printed  matter. 

Power.  —  Of  the  power  used  in  manufacture  in  the  United 
States,  nearly  one  tenth  is  derived  from  streams  and  the  rest 
from  fuel,  chiefly  coal.  Of  all  the  water  power  utilized  70 
per  cent  is  found  in  the  Eastern  States  and  40  per  cent  in  New 
England.  Manufacturing  began  in  New  England  before  the  in- 
vention of  the  steam  engine  and  was  successful  because  there 
were  many  small  streams  with  good  fall  and  narrow  valleys 
which  could  be  easily  dammed.  Among  these  the  Merrimac, 
Blackstone,  and  Connecticut  were  the  most  important.  The 
water  power  has  long  since  been  outgrown  and  now  forms  only 
28  per  cent  of  all  the  power  used. 

The  power  of  water  is  due  entirely  to  its  weight  and  is  proportional  to 
the  quantity  multiplied  by  the  "  head,"  or  vertical  distance  through  which 
it  falls.  Natural  cataracts  are  generally  most  available,  but  an  artificial 
cataract  can  be  made  by  building  a  dam.  It  is  generally  inconvenient  to 
place  the  mill  or  wheel  directly  under  the  fall,  therefore  it  is  built  at  one  side 

206 


IRON  AND   STEEL 


207 


and  water  is  led  to  it  by  a  race  or  canal.  Fuel  can  be  carried  to  the  factory, 
but  the  factory  must  go  to  the  water  power.  This  difficulty  has  been  largely 
overcome  since  invention  has  made  it  possible  to  conduct  power  hundreds 
of  miles  by  the  electric  current  and  to  distribute  it  in  small  quantities  where- 
ever  needed.  The  largest  water  power  now  in  use,  and  perhaps  the  largest 
in  the  world,  is  at  Niagara  Falls.  There  a  river,  with  the  upper  Great  Lakes 
above  it  for  reservoirs,  and  a  volume  which  never  varies,  falls  160  feet. 
There  is  power  enough,  if  completely  utilized,  to  supply  four  or  five  of  the 
largest  cities.     At  present  only  a  small  fraction  of  the  river  is  diverted  to 


■;«^^'>iin^--i?4e^-. 


Fig.  102. 


Water  power  on  the  Niagara  gorge.     Note  the  penstocks  conveying  water 
to  a  power  house  at  the  foot  of  the  bluff. 


power  houses  (Fig.  102)  where  electricity  is  generated  and  sent  to  BufTalo 
and  other  cities  within  150  miles  to  be  used  for  lighting  and  for  running 
cars  and  machinery. 


Iron  and  Steel.  —  Iron  ores  are  abundant  and  widely  distrib- 
uted, but  the  utilization  of  any  particular  deposit  depends  upon 
the  purity  of  the  ore,  the  presence  of  fuel,  and  the  access  to 
markets.  The  first  iron  furnaces  in  America  were  scattered 
along  the  Appalachians  from  Vermont  to  Georgia.  They  were 
small  and  supphed  only  a  local  demand.  The  fuel  used  was  char- 
coal and  the  blast  was  produced  by  water  power.  The  use  of 
anthracite  in  eastern  Pennsylvania  about  1840  stimulated  and 


208 


THE   EASTERN   STATES:    MANUFACTURES 


concentrated  the  iron  industry  in  Unit  region  (Fig.  103).  The 
extension  of  railroads  tinough  the  bituminous  coal  field  and  the 
use  of  coke,  which  is  less  expensive  than  anthracite,  soon  shifted 
the  iron-making  district  to  western  Pennsylvania. 

Pittsburgh,  at  the  junction  of  three  navigable  rivers  and  with 
good  ore  and  the  best  of  steam  and  coking  coal  at  hand,  became 

UNITED  STATES $1,377.1.52,000 

0  200  400  600  800 


Pennsylvania. 
Ohio 

Illinois. 
New  York. 
Alabama.  _ 
All  othera- 


.—  668,922,000 
—  -281,479,000 
.-.^124,908,000 

66.1,'3,3,000 

21.2:}6,000 

--  214,454,000 


Fig.  103.  — Manufacture  of  iron  and  steel,  by  states  (igog),  in  millions  of  dollars. 

the  natural  center  of  the  industry.  The  exploitation  of  the  rich 
ore  deposits  around  Lake  Superior  (p.  137)  since  1885  has  served 
only  to  increase  the  importance  of  Pittsburgh,  which  has  become 
the  leading  iron  working  center  of  the  world.  It  is  cheaper  to 
ship  the  ore  to  the  fuel  than  the  fuel  to  the  ore,  and  this  movement 
on  the  largest  scale  is  made  possible  by  the  waterway  of  the 
Great  Lakes  (p.  157).  The  Pittsburgh  district  has  expanded 
until  it  comprises  western  Pennsylvania,  eastern  Ohio,  and 
northern  West  Virginia,  where  scores  of  "  iron  towns  "  have 
sprung  up  and  it  is  difhcult  at  night  to  get  out  of  sight  of 
furnace  fires. 

The  lake  ports  of  the  Appalachian  and  Eastern  Interior  coal 
fields  (p.  194),  Buffalo,  Cleveland,  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  and 
Gary,  Ind.,  are  vigorous  rivals  in  the  making  of  iron  and  steel 
from  Lake  Superior  ores,  but  neither  yet  equals  "  the  Smoky 
City  "  of  coal,  oil,  and  gas.  In  eastern  Pennsylvania,  ores  im- 
ported from  Cuba,  Newfoundland,  Sweden,  and  Spain  are  mixed 
with  domestic  ores  and  smelted  to  supply  the  seaboard  market. 

Smelting.  —  The  smelting  or  extraction  of  iron  from  the  ore  requires  a 
very  high  temperature,  which  can  be  obtained  only  in  a  blast  furnace. 
The  furnace,  shaped  like  a  bottle  having  its  largest  diameter  a  little  above 


PIG   IRON,   WROUGHT  IRON,   AND   STEEL 


209 


the  bottom,  is  built  of  masonry  or  steel  and  lined  with  fire  brick.  It  may  be 
90  feet  high  and  15  feet  across.  After  a  fire  is  started,  coke,  ore,  and  lime- 
stone are  dumped  in  alternately  at  the  top.  A  blast  of  hot  air  is  blown  in 
near  the  bottom,  and  at  a  temperature  of  about  2500°  some  elements  of  the 
ore  combine  with  the  coke  to  form  gases  which  escape  at  the  top.  Other 
ingredients  unite  with  the  limestone  to  form  a  liquid  slag.  In  six  or  twelve 
hours  the  bottom  of  the  furnace  is  filled  with  liquid  iron,  upon  which  the 
slag  floats  like  cream  on  milk.  The  slag  is  drawn  off  through  an  upper 
opening  and  has  usually  been  thrown  away  as  waste.  Recently  it  is  being 
used  as  material  for  making  cement  (p.  142).  The  iron  is  drawn  off  through 
a  lower  opening  and  run  into  sand  or  iron  molds,  where  it  cools  and  solidifies 
into  "  pigs."     (See  Fig.  104.) 


Fig.  104.  —  The  high  tower  at  the  left  is  a  blast  furnace  with  a  hoist  for  ore  and  coke  be- 
side it.  The  lower  towers  are  ovens  for  heating  the  blast.  "Pigs"  of  iron  stacked  in  the 
foreground. 


Pig  Iron,  Wrought  Iron,  and  Steel.  —  Pig  or  cast  iron,  as  it 
comes  from  the  furnace,  contains  two  per  cent  or  more  of  carbon, 


210 


Tin:    EASTERN   STATES:   MANUFACTURES 


which  makes  it  hard  but  rather  brittle  and  unworkable  under 
the  hammer.  When  hot  it  is  very  liquid  and  can  be  poured  into  a 
mold  of  any  shape,  which  it  fills  in  all  its  corners,  making  when 
cold  a  good  casting.  It  is  used  for  the  large  and  massive  parts 
of  machinery  and  for  small,  irregular  pieces  which  do  not  require 
great  strength,  like  the  parts  of  a  stove. 

Wrought  iron,  the  purest  form  of  the  metal,  is  soft,  flexible, 
and  tough  and  can  be  welded  and  hammered  into  any  shape 
without  breaking. 

Steel  is  a  variety  of  iron  which  combines  the  good  qualities  of 
cast  iron  and  wrought  iron  with  some  of  its  own.     It  contains 

less  carbon  than  cast 
iron.  It  can  be  made 
hard  or  soft,  brittle  or 
tough,  and  can  be 
hammered  or  cast.  It 
is  one  of  the  strongest 
and  most  elastic  of 
materials.  By  vary- 
ing shghtly  the  pro- 
portion of  carbon,  and 
by  heating  and  cooling 
rapidly  or  slowly 
("  tempering  "),  we 
may  give  to  steel  the 
exact  qualities  desired 
for  a  watch  spring, 
a  razor,  a  railroad 
rail,  a  fence  wire,  an 
anchor  chain,  a  bridge 
or  sheets  to  be  coated 


Fig.  105.  —  A  Bessemer  converter  in  action. 


beam,    armor    plate  for  a 
with   tin   and   made   into 


battleship, 
'  tinware." 


The  use  of  steel  on  a  large  scale  was  made  possible  by  the  Bessemer  pro- 
cess invented  about  1856.     By  blowing  a  blast  of  air  through  molten  pig  iron 


PIG   IRON,    WROUGHT   IRON,    AND    STEEL 


211 


in  an  egg-shaped  "  converter  "  it  is  converted  into  steel  in  a  few  minutes  and 
at  a  small  cost.     (See  Fig.  105.) 

While  Bessemer  steel  is  relatively  inexpensive,  it  can  be  made  only  from 
certain  kinds  of  ore,  and  it  is  not  so  good  in  ciualily  as  steel  made  by  the 


Fig.  106.  —  Location  of  blast  furnaces,  igoy. 


open-hearth  process  now  coming  into  general  use.  This  consists  in  melting 
cast  iron  in  a  shallow  furnace  by  causing  flame  to  flow  over  its  surface,  and 
in  adding  iron  ore  and  scrap  steel  until  the  material  acquires  the  proper 
composition.     This   takes   about   twelve   hours.     The   quantity   of   open- 


212  THE   EASTERN    STATES:   MANUFACTURES 

hearth  slccl  now  made  in  llu'  I'liiled  States  is  nearly  twice  that  of  Bessemer. 
On  account  of  ils  great  strength  and  duraljihty,  steel  has  largely  dis])laced 
other  varieties  of  iron,  and  this  is  often  called  "  the  age  of  steel." 

Division  of  Iron  Manufacture.  —  Articles  nuulv  of  iron  and 
steel  are  so  ntimcrous  and  varied  that  the  industry  has  become 
highly  specialized  and  divided  into  many  departments.  The 
primary  plant  which  furnishes  material  for  all  the  rest  is  the 
blast  furnace,  of  which  there  were  in  1909  in  the  United  States  208  : 
in  the  Middle  West  70,  in  the  Eastern  States  loi,  and  in  the 
Southern  States  35  (Fig.  106).  The  largest  furnaces  turn  out  600 
to  900  tons  of  pig  iron  a  day.  Nearly  one  half  of  the  whole 
furnace  product  is  delivered  while  still  hot  and  liquid  to  mills 
where  it  is  converted  into  steel. 

Most  of  the  molten  steel  is  run  into  ingots  and  allowed  to  cool  until  it  is 
stiff  enough  to  handle.  In  a  rolling  mill,  the  ingots,  weighing  many  tons 
each,  are  passed,  while  still  hot  and  soft,  between  rollers  which  squeeze  them 
into  thinner  and  longer  masses  until  the  metal  has  been  rolled  down  into 
railroad  rails,  plates,  sheets,  or  bars  of  various  sizes  called  billets.  Of  steel 
works  and  rolling  mills,  there  are  in  the  United  States  446,  of  which  268 
are  in  the  Eastern  States,  150  in  the  Middle  West,  and  8  in  the  Southern 
States.  Rods  and  wires  are  made  by  drawing  the  hot  steel  through  holes 
of  different  sizes.  Large  articles  of  other  shapes  are  forged  under  hammers 
of  enormous  weight. 

Foundries.  —  The  most  widely  distributed  establishment  for  iron  work 
is  the  foundry  where  articles  in  great  variety  are  made  by  casting.  This 
process  consists  in  filling  molds  with  melted  iron  or  steel  and  allowing  the 
metal  to  cool  and  solidify.  The  molds  are  generally  made  of  a  special  kind 
of  sand  built  up  around  a  pattern  of  wood,  which,  when  removed,  leaves  a 
space  of  the  desired  shape.  Other  works  produce  structural  steel  in  large 
pieces  for  bridges,  buildings,  and  ships.  Others  are  devoted  to  making  nails, 
bolts,  screws,  tools,  cutlery,  and  the  vast  variety  of  small  articles  found  in 
a  hardware  store.  Still  others  manufacture  pipe,  stoves,  car  wheels,  engines, 
or  special  kinds  of  machinery.  To  trace  the  iron  which  runs  out  of  a  blast 
furnace  through  all  the  changes  and  processes  by  which  it  is  converted  into 
the  almost  innumerable  "  finished  products  "  in  common  use  would  require 
a  volume.  To  discuss  these  processes  and  products  would  be  to  write  the 
history  of  modern  industrial  civilization. 


SPINNING   AND   WEAVING  213 

Table  V  in  the  Appendix  shows  that  the  Eastern  States  lead 
the  other  economic  regions  of  the  United  States  in  the  extent  of 
their  iron  industries,  and  in  many  departments  equal  or  exceed  all 
the  rest  combined.  If  the  extension  of  the  Pittsburgh  district  into 
Ohio  is  included  in  the  Eastern  States,  with  which  it  naturally 
belongs,  their  superiority  becomes  very  striking.  Pennsylvania 
has  twice  as  many  blast  furnaces  as  any  other  state  and  also  pro- 
duces half  the  steel  made.  Among  cities,  Pittsburgh,  Youngs- 
town,  O.,  and  Chicago  rank  highest  in  value  of  steel  produced.  Of 
the  world's  supply  of  steel  the  United  States  makes  more  than 
two  fifths,  Germany  more  than  one  fifth,  and  Great  Britain  more 
than  one  tenth. 

Textiles.  —  As  clothing  is  second  in  importance  only  to  food, 
so  among  manufactures  textiles,  or  woven  goods,  stand  next  in 
value  after  foodstuffs.  The  rudest  peoples  know  how  to  braid 
or  weave  grass,  bark,  and  leaves  into  coarse  mats,  blankets,  and 
other  fabrics  which  resemble  basketwork  or  the  plaiting  of  a 
straw  hat.  The  use  of  fine  fibers  like  wool,  flax,  and  cotton  is 
more  difficult  and  requires  considerable  skill.  Such  libers  are 
only  an  inch  or  two  long  and  must  be  spun  by  twisting  them  to- 
gether to  make  a  continuous  thread.  The  arts  of  spinning  and 
weaving  were  invented  in  prehistoric  times  and  have  been  prac- 
ticed for  thousands  of  years,  but  until  about  150  years  ago  the 
work  was  done  by  hand  (Fig.  107). 

Spinning  and  Weaving.  —  Spinning  consists  essentially  in  drawing  out  a 
wad  or  roll  of  fibers  and  twisting  it  at  the  same  time.  This  can  be  done  with 
the  simplest  implements,  a  distaff  to  hold  the  bunch  of  fiber  and  a  spindle 
twirled  in  the  hand.  The  spinning  wheel  run  by  foot  or  hand  improved  the 
product  and  increased  the  speed,  but  spun  only  a  single  thread.  In  1770, 
James  Hargreaves  in  England  invented  the  spinning  "  jenny"  (a  machine 
named  after  his  daughter),  which  contained  twenty  or  more  spindles.  This 
machine,  with  many  improvements  and  the  number  of  spindles  multiplied 
indefinitely,  is  the  one  still  used  in  the  large  mills  of  the  present  day. 

Weaving  is  the  process  of  interlacing  two  sets  of  threads  at  right  angles. 
A  loom  consists  essentially  of  a  frame  upon  which  one  set  of  threads,  the 

ELEM.    ECON.    GEOG.  —  13 


214 


Till-;  easti:rn  statics  :  manufactures 


warp,  is  strclclu'd,  wliilf  I  hi'  ollirr  sil ,  the  woof,  is  woven  lhrou};h  them  back 
and  forth  by  means  of  a  shullk'.  The  essential  parts  are  simple  and  the 
quality  and  patterns  of  cloth  may  he  considerably  varied  without  complicated 
machinery.  Hand  looms  are  still  in  use  in  remote  parts  of  Scotland,  Ireland, 
and  the  United  States.  In  17S7  another  Englishman,  Edmund  Cartwright, 
invented  a  power  loom  which  wove  cloth  much  faster  than  the  hand  loom  and 
was  able  to  use  the  accumulations  of  yarn   which  Hargreaves'  jenny   had 


Fig.  107.  —  Carding,  spinning,  and  weaving  cotton  at  home,  .\labama. 

spun.  The  new  machines  were  at  first  run  by  water  or  horse  power,  but 
these  were  soon  supplemented  by  Watt's  newly  invented  steam  engine.  In 
1793  Eli  Whitney  in  the  United  States  invented  the  cotton  gin,  which  could 
remove  the  seed  from  5000  pounds  of  cotton  a  day.  Before  this  invention, 
one  person  could  remove  by  hand  the  seeds  from  only  one  pound  a  day. 
This  machine  gave  an  enormous  impetus  to  the  growing  and  manufacture 
of  cotton.  These  inventions  secured  to  all  mankind  an  abundant  supply 
of  clothing  forever. 

Early  Textile  Industry  in  America.  —  Spinning  and  weaving 
were  carried  on  by  the  early  settlers  of  New  England,  who 
brought  wheels  and  looms  with  them.  The  severity  of  the 
climate  made  good  clothing  necessary,  and  distance  from  the 


FLAX   AND   HEMP 


215 


Old  World  made  it  difficult  and  expensive  to  buy.  They  were, 
therefore,  compelled  to  provide  for  themselves.  Textiles  made  by 
hand  were  at  first  a  by-product  of  agriculture,  manufactured  in 
the  farm  homestead.  The  farmers  planted  flax  and  raised  sheep. 
Some  wool  was  imported  from  Spain  and  cotton  from  the  West 
Indies.  A  stout  cloth,  called  fustian,  was  made  from  linen  and 
cotton,  and  kerseys  and  linsey-woolseys  suitable  for  winter  wear 
from  linen  and  wool.  Learning  to  spin  and  weave  was  an  im- 
portant part  of  the  education  of  every  woman.  At  one  time  in 
Boston,  spinning  schools  and  bees  became  a  fashionable  craze, 
and  men  took  pride  in  wearing  homespun. 

Between  1788  and  1794  mills  containing  machines  run  by  water  power 
were  established  at  Philadelphia,  Beverly,  Mass.,  Pawtucket  and  Provi- 
dence, R.I.,  Hartford,  Conn.,  and  Paterson,  N.J.  The  mill  at  Paw- 
tucket used  cotton  from  Guiana  and  Haiti  costing  a  dollar  a  pound.  The 
mill  at  Hartford  made  the  fine,  dark  brown  broadcloth  for  the  suit  worn  by 
Washington  at  his  inauguration  in  1789.  Between  18 10  and  1827  textile 
manufactures  were  established  at  Manchester,  N.H.,  Fall  River  and  Wal- 
tham,  Mass.,  Woonsocket,  R.I.,  Amsterdam,  N.Y.,  and  Lowell,  Mass.,  and 
in  1846-1847  at  New  Bedford  and  Lawrence,  Mass.  It  is  notable  (i)  that 
these  mills  were  located  on  streams  which  furnish  water  power,  and  near  good 
harbors ;  (2)  that  in  nearly  all  of  them  the  industry  has  continued  to  flourish 
and  they  are  now  the  great  textile  centers  of  the  United  States  (Fig.  108). 


Philadelphia,  Pa.,. 

Lawrence,  Mass 

Fall  River, Mass 

New  Bedford. Mass. 

Paterson,  N.J 

Providence,  R.l 

Lowell,  Mass 

Pawtucket,  R.I 

New  York,  N.Y.,.. 


25  50  75  100 

Woolen  and  cotton  goods,  hosiery  and  carpets 


I  Woolen  goods . 


^■Cotton  goods 
Cotton  goods 


^■Silk. 
Woolen  goods. 
Cotton  goods 
I  Cotton  goods.. 

Hosiery 

0  25  50  75  too  125 

Fig.  io8.  —  Rank  of  cities  in  manufacture  of  textiles,  igog. 


.-$124,060,000 

—  -58,536,000 

—  48.576,000 

42.505.000 

.—  40.358,000 
.—  29.926.000 
—.24,744,000 

14.338.000 

....13.565.000 


Fibers.  —  Of  fibers  in  general  use  flax,  hemp,  and  wool  date 
from  the  earliest  times,  while  cotton  and  silk  are  quite  recent. 

Flax  and  Hemp.  —  Flax  is  grown  both  for  the  fiber  of  its  stems 
and  for  the  seed,  from  which  linseed  oil,  indispensable  in  making 


2l6 


THE    EASTERN    STATES:   MANUFACTURES 


good  paint,  and  oil  cake  for  |.altcningcatllc,arc  obtained.  Before 
the  advent  of  cheap  cotton,  flax  was  grown  on  nearly  every  farm 
in  the  United  States  and  clothing  was  made  from  it  in  the  house- 
hold. The  straw  was  "  retted  "  by  soaking  in  water,  "  broken  " 
by  pounding  with  a  club,  and  "  scutched  "  by  drawing  through  a 
"  hetchel  "  or  comb  with  long  wire  teeth.  The  "  tow  "  thus 
obtained  was  spun  on  a  wheel,  turned  by  a  pedal,  and  woven  on 
a  hand  loom.  The  whole  process  was  laborious  and  the  product 
was  coarse  linen  cloth.  Flax  is  adapted  to  a  wide  range  of  climate 
and  is  now  an  important  crop  in  central  and  northern  Europe 
from  Ireland  to  Siberia.  It  is  difficult  to  prepare  and  to  spin,  but 
the  finest  thread  and  cloth  used  for  handkerchiefs,  towels, 
collars,  cuffs,  and  table  linen  are  produced  in  northern  Ireland, 
southern  Scotland,  Belgium,  Germany,  and  Bohemia.  A  ma- 
chine which  would  do  for  flax  what  the  gin  did  for  cotton  might 
so  cheapen  linen  as  to  make  it  a  rival  of  cotton  for  clothing. 

Hemp  resembles  llax  but  tlie  fiber  is  coarse  and  used  chiefly  for  making 
rope,  twine,  sacking,  and  matting.  It  is  now  of  less  importance  than  jute 
from  India,  Manila  hemp  from  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  sisal  from  Yucatan. 


UNITED  STATES. 


Cotton  goods 

Woolen  goods 

Hosiery  &  knit  goods-. 
Silk 

Carpets  &rugs 

Cordage,  jute  &  linen. 


.$1,738,489,723 


-  628,392,000 

-  435,979,000 
200,144.000 

.196,912,000 
.-  71,188,000 
-61,020,000 


Fig.  log. 


0  150  300  450  600  750 

Textiles  manufactured  in  United  States,  igog.     (See  Table  V,  Appe.idix.) 


Wool.  —  The  fibers  of  wool  differ  from  all  others  in  being 
crinkly  and  scaly ;  therefore,  woolen  cloth  is  thicker,  heavier, 
warmer,  more  elastic,  and  less  easily  wet  than  fabrics  made  from 
vegetable  fiber.  It  is  open  to  the  serious  objections  that  it  is 
irritating  to  the  skin  and  can  hardly  be  washed  without  injury. 
Therefore,  it  is  used  chiefly  for  outer  garments,  especially  those 
worn  by  men.  Wool  is  also  made  into  felt,  which  is  a  matted, 
tangled  mass  without  threads. 


WOOL 


217 


Woolen  goods  arc  usually  "  fulled  "  bj'  healing  and  teasing  until  the 
threads  are  hidden  by  a  soft,  furry,  felllike  surface.  Cloths  which  are  not 
fulled  and  show  the  thread  plainly  are  called  ivorstcds.  Shoddy  is  a  thick, 
warm,  cheap,  but  weak  cloth  made  from  woolen  rags.  Wool  is  produced  by 
sheep  which  are  raised  also  for  mutton  and  are  widely  distributed  in  all 
the  temperate  regions  of  the  world  which  are  not  too  wet.  The  quality 
of  the  wool  varies  with  the  climate  and  the  breed  of  sheep.  It  is  bulky  but 
light  and  the  price  paid  to  the  producer  is  so  high  that  it  can  be  transported 
long  distances  without  greatly  increasing  the  cost  to  the  manufacturer.  He 
can  afford  to  import  from  any  part  of  the  world  the  kinds  needed  to  supply 
his  market.  Consequently  wool  is  an  article  of  extensive  and  long-dis- 
tance trade.  In  the  United  States  most  of  the  wool  is  raised  in  the  Pacific 
Division  (p.  loi)  and  nearly  one  half  of  the  591  million  pounds  used  (1914- 
1915)  is  imported.  W^ool  for  the  finest  goods  is  obtained  from  Australia, 
New  Zealand,  and  .Argentina,  while  a  heavy  importation  of  coarse  carpet 
wools  comes  from  China,  Russia,  Turkey,  and  Scotland. 


Woolen  manufacture  is  one  of  the  most  concentrated  of  indus- 
tries. More  than  nine  tenths  of  it  belongs  to  the  Eastern  States, 
one  third  to  Massachusetts,  and  one  sixth  each  to  Pennsylvania 
and  Rhode  Island.  The  leading  cities  are  Lawrence,  Philadelphia, 
and  Providence.  The  average  value  of  the  goods  made  from  a 
pound  of  wool  is  about  one  dollar.     (See  Fig.  no.) 

UNITED  STATES $435,978,558 

0  40  80  120  160 


Massachusetts. 
Pennsylvania-- 
Rhode  Island 
New  Jersey. 
New  York 

Connecticut 

Maine 

New  Hampshire 

Ail  others 


-141,966,882 
-77,446,996 

-  74,600,240 
.  33,938,637 
..23,739,421 

-19,363,228 
_  18,490,120 

-  16,730,652 
-J29, 702,382 


Fig. 


0  40  80  120  160 

Manufacture  of  woolen  goods,  by  states  (igog),  in  millions  of  dollars. 


The  value  of  woolen  goods  manufactured  in  Great  Britain,  Germany, 
France,  and  Austria-Hungary  is  in  each  country  about  the  same  as  that  in 
the  United  States.  Each  of  the  first  three  imports  twice  as  much  wool 
as  does  the  United  States,  most  of  it  from  Australasia  and  Argentina,  which 
grow  more  than  half  the  w^ool  of  the  world,  export  nearly  all  they  grow,  and 
buy  back  manufactured  goods.     On  account  of  the  large  area  required  to 


2l8 


THE  i;asti:rn  stativS  :  manufactures 


support  shcc[),  tlic  world's  suijpiv  of  wool  docs  not  keep  uj)  with  the  demand, 
and  mixed  goods  of  wool  and  cotton  are  coming  more  and  more  into  use. 

Cotton.  —  The  cotton  plant  was  widely  distributed  throughout 
the  warm  temperate  and  tropical  regions  of  the  world  and  its 
seed  liber  was  in  general  use  for  clothing  before  the  dawn  of 
history.  Yet  the  commercial  manufacture  of  cotton  on  a  large 
scale  dates  from  the  invention  of  the  cotton  gin  in  1793.  Pre- 
vious to  that  time  cotton  cloth  was  more  expensive  than  linen 
or  woolen.  Machinery  for  spinning  and  weaving  was  ready, 
but  the  supply  of  raw  material  was  limited  by  the  cost  of  labor  in 
seeding  by  hand.  With  this  obstacle  removed,  the  production 
and  manufacture  of  cotton  increased  by  leaps  and  bounds,  until 
it  now  forms  nine  tenths  of  all  the  materials  used  for  clothing. 
The  Southern  States  produce  about  three  fifths  of  the  world's 
cotton  crop,  India  one  fourth,  and  China,  Egypt,  Russian  Turkes- 
tan, and  Brazil  nearly  all  the  rest. 


IWl'?. 


lllHIIHtll 


'""^P'^IptP'pI^ 


Fig.  III.  —  Cotton  mills,  Rhode  Island. 


Cotton  manufacture  in  the  United  States  was  at  first  almost 
confined  to  New  England,  which  still  holds  its  supremacy,  not 
in  amount  of  raw  cotton  consumed,  but  in  value  of  the  product. 
The  location  of  mills  was  determined  by  the  presence  of  water 


BRITISH   COTTON   INDUSTRY 


219 


power,  as  that  of  the  Merrimac  River  in  New  Hampshire 
and  Massachusetts,  and  of  the  Blackstone  in  Rhode  Island 
(Fig.  in).  Many  of  the  mills  have  outgrown  the  water  power 
and  use  steam.  Coal  is  obtained  by  cheap  ocean  transportation. 
The  leading  city  in  the  cotton  industry  is  Fall  River,  but  its 
neighbor.  New  Bedford,  produces  the  finest  cloth.  Lowell, 
Philadelphia,  and  Pawtucket  stand  next  in  rank. 

The  mills  of  the  Southern  States  use  more  cotton  than  those  of  the  Eastern 
States,  but  their  product  consists  of  coarser  cloths  which  are  mostly  exported. 
While  the  United  States  is  the  only  important  country  that  produces  raw 
cotton  enough  for  its  own  use,  the  fiber  of  finest  quality  is  imported  from 
Egypt  and  Peru.  In  total  value  of  goods  the  United  States  stands  second 
only  to  Great  Britain.     (See  Fig.  112.) 

UNITED  STATES $628,391,813 

0  20  40  60  80  100 


Massachusetts  -  - 
North  Carolina., 
South  Carolina.. - 

Rhode  Island 

Georgia 

Pennsylvania 

New  Hampshire 

Connecticut 

Alabama 

Maine 

New  York 

New  Jersey. 

All  others 


■  186,462,313 


680,385 
929,585 
312,597 
036,817 
917,033 
601,830 
231,881 
211,748 
932,225 
351,555 
728.874 
994.970 


Fig, 


40  60  80  100 

112.  —  Manufacture  of  cotton,  by  .states  (igog),  in  millions  of  dollars. 


British  Cotton  Industry.  —  The  possession  of  a  large  body  of 
skilled  workmen,  trained  through  many  generations  to  spin  and 
weave,  and  the  invention  among  them  of  the  spinning  jenny, 
power  loom,  and  steam  engine  gave  the  English  a  long  start  ahead 
in  cotton  manufacture.  A  favorable  climate,  abundant  coal,  the 
first-class  harbor  at  Liverpool  through  which  food  and  raw 
materials  are  imported,  peace  at  home,  plenty  of  capital,  skilled 
labor,  and  merchant  ships  which  reach  all  ports  have  made  the 
region  within  forty  miles  of  Manchester  the  center  from  which 
70  per  cent  of  the  world's  export  of  cotton  cloth  is  sent  out. 


2  20 


vwv:  i;.\sti;k.\  statiis  :  m.wufacturks 


English  cotton  goods  may  be  Ijought  in  every  considerable  dry 
goods  store  in  America,  and  it  would  be  dilTicult  to  find  a  corner 
of  the  world,  outside  the  polar  regions,  where  they  are  unknown. 

The  cotton  industry  flourishes  in  Germany,  France,  Belgium,  Holland, 
and  Switzerland.  It  is  carried  on  in  northern  Italy,  Spain,  Bohemia,  and 
Poland  and  has  penetrated  even  India,  Japan,  and  China.  Cotton  is  the 
king  of  fibers  and  by  far  the  most  valuable  plant  known  to  man  outside  the 
cereal  grains.  It  literally  clolhes  the  world  in  the  sense  that  few  human 
beings,  savage  or  civilized,  do  without  it. 

UNITED  STATES 4200,143.527 

0  15  30  45  60  75 


New  York 

Pennsylvania-- 
Massachusctts. 
AUothera 


.  67.130.296 
.  49.657,506 
- 14,736,025 
-68,619,700 


60 


75 


0  15  30  45 

Fig.   113.  —  Manufacture  of  hosiery  and  knit   goods,  by  state.s  (igog),  in  millions  of 

dollars. 

UNITED  STATES     j;71.188.152 

0  5  10  15  20  25  30 


New  York 

Pennsylvania  - 
Massachusetts  . 
All  others 


...  2.5,606,262 
.--.24.879,232 
-.-  12,811.981 
7,890,677 


Fig.  114. 


0  5  10  15  20  25  30 

Manufacture  of  carpets  and  rugs,  by  states  (igog),  in  millions  of  dollars. 


Silk.  —  Silks,  first  brought  to  Europe  from  China  before  the 
Christian  era,  have  continued  to  be  a  luxury  valued  for  their 
luster  and  beauty.  Raw  silk  is  an  exceedingly  fine  thread  which 
a  caterpillar,  called  the  silkworm,  draws  from  its  head  and  winds 
around  itself  in  preparation  for  changing  into  a  moth  (Fig.  21). 
When  the  cocoon  thus  made  is  completed,  the  worm  is  killed  by 
heating  and  the  thread  is  unwound,  from  five  to  twenty  threads 
being  combined  into  a  single  fiber.  Silk  culture  consists  in  gather- 
ing the  eggs  of  the  moth  and  feeding  the  worms,  when  hatched, 
on  fresh  mulberry  leaves  until  they  are  mature  and  ready  to  spin 
their  cocoons.  The  mulberry  tree  thrives  in  the  tropical  and 
warm  temperate  zones,  but  the  worms  are  delicate  and  require 
care  in  securing  proper  temperature,  humidity,  and  cleanliness. 


SILK   MANUFACTURE 


221 


Therefore,  raw  silk  is  produced  only  where  skilled  labor,  mostly 
that  of  women  and  children,  is  abundant  and  cheap.  Japan  is  es- 
pecially well  provided  in  this  respect  and  now  prtxlucesone  third 
of  the  world's  supply.  China  yields  three  tenths,  and  southern 
France  and  northern  Italy  combined,  one  fifth. 

Silk  Manufacture.  —  The  French  have  taught  the  world  how  to  attain 
the  highest  degree  of  excellence  in  silk  fabrics,  the  center  of  the  industry 
being  at  Lyons  in  the  Rhone  valley.  French  satins,  velvets,  brocades,  and 
ribbons  have  become  famous  as  the  most  beautiful,  durable,  and  costly  of 
dress  goods.  The  demand  for  them  is  necessarily  limited,  but  the  market 
for  lighter,  poorer,  and  cheaper  goods  is  capable  of  indefinite  expansion. 
Swiss  and  German  manufacturers  cater  to  this  growing  trade  and  their 
French  neighbors  are  obliged  to  compete. 

In  the  silk  industry  the  cost  of  transportation  is  trifling  com- 
pared with  the  value  of  the  goods.  Hence  it  is  possible  for  the 
United  States,  although  producing  no  silk,  to  manufacture  more 
than  any  other  country.  Raw  silk  worth  $3.00  a  pound  is  im- 
ported to  the  value  of  $75,000,000  a  year,  about  three  fifths  of 
it  from  Japan.  Silk  manufacture,  one  of  the  youngest  of  Ameri- 
can industries,  is  one  of  the  most  vigorous.  Cheapening  of  the 
goods  has  placed  them  within  reach  of  millions  of  people,  and  the 

UNITED  STATES $196,911,667 

0  15  30  45  60  75 

New  Jersey 


Pennsylvania 

New  York 

Connecticut.. 
All  others. 


.65,429,550 
.62,061,302 
.  26,518.821 
.21,062,687 
-21,839,307 


Fig.  IIS- 


3  15  30  45  60  75 

Manufacture  of  silk,  by  states  (igog),  in  millions  of  dollars. 


output  has  doubled  in  five  years.  Silks  are  no  longer  hixuries 
for  the  rich,  but  the  common  finery  of  the  masses.  The  industry 
is  concentrated  in  a  district  extending  from  Connecticut  to 
eastern  Pennsylvania  with  Paterson,  N.J.,  as  a  leading  city 
(Fig.  115).  The  labor  is  performed  chiefly  by  women,  and  in 
this  district  the  wives  and  daughters  of  men  employed  in  iron 
and  cement  works  and  coal  mines  are  available. 


222  THE   EASTERN   STATIvS  :   MANUFACTURES 

Artificial  Silk.  -  The  silkworm  makes  raw  silk  out  of  mulijcrry  leaves. 
It  is  possible  lo  produce  similar  chemical  changes  in  the  laboratory  by 
which  cotton  is  converted  into  artiticial  silk.  This  substance  can  be  spun 
and  woven,  possesses  even  a  higher  luster,  and  is  much  cheaper  than  natural 
silk,  which  it  may  in  lime  displace. 

Clothing.  —  Textiles  are  made  into  clothing  of  many  sorts. 
No  other  industry  covers  so  wide  a  range  of  form,  size,  quality, 
style,  and  cost.  Making  clothes  was  once  wholly  a  domestic 
industry.  Cutting  out  garments  and  doing  the  family  sewing 
took  much  of  the  time  of  the  women  in  every  household.  Later, 
the  tailor  became  as  important  a  member  of  the  community  as 
the  shoemaker,  and  like  him  was  often  a  "  journeyman,"  going 
from  house  to  house.  When  the  tailor  came  to  have  a  shop  of 
his  own,  the  seamstress  set  up  as  a  dressmaker,  and  the  household 
was  largely  relieved. 

The  invention  of  the  sewing  machine  about  1850  made  possible  the  be- 
ginning of  the  ready-made  clothing  business.  It  is  carried  on  by  two 
systems,  the  "  sweatshop  "  and  the  factory.  By  the  former,  garments  in 
pieces  already  cut  out  were  sent  to  the  homes  to  be  sewed.  The  pay  often  was 
so  small  that  many  workers  — ■  men,  women,  and  children  —  worked  long 
hours  in  crowded,  unsanitary  rooms  to  earn  the  bare  necessities  of  life. 
Sweatshop  conditions  have  now  been  generally  improved  and  the  system  to 
some  extent  broken  up.  There  has  been  of  late  a  rapid  increase  of  clothing 
manufacture  in  factories  equipped  with  power  machinery  for  cutting  and 
sewing,  and  the  cost  in  money  and  human  life  has  been  notably  reduced. 

The  making  of  clothes  has  been  the  last  of  the  domestic  arts  to 
pass  into  the  factory  stage,  and  the  change  is  incomplete.  Some 
clothing,  principally  that  of  women  and  children,  is  still  made  at 
home.  The  more  costly  garments  for  men  and  gowns  for  women 
are  "  custom-made  "  by  the  tailor  and  "  modiste."  The  sizes, 
patterns,  and  styles  of  ready-made  and  "  ready  to  wear  "  cloth- 
ing are  so  numerous  that  at  an  outfitting  establishment  any 
man,  woman,  or  child  can  be  completely  and  decently  clothed 
in  a  few  minutes. 


HIDES   AND   TANNING 


223 


A  sufficient  labor  supply  and  a  market  for  all  the  sizes  and  styles 
restrict  the  location  of  the  clothing  manufacture  to  large  cities. 
One  half  of  the  biUion  dollars'  worth  is  made  in  the  city  of  New 
York  and  nearly  three  fourths  in  the  Eastern  States.  Illinois 
is  the  second  state  and  Chicago  the  second  city,  while  Phila- 
delphia is  second  for  women's  clothing.     (See  Fig.  116.) 

828.000 


UNITED  STATES 

!S9iS2. 

( 
Hew  York 

)                IC 

0              2C 

0               3C 

0              400              500             600 

L 

106, 

Illinois 

Pennsylvania 

^^^~ 

72 

^^ 

•' 

44, 

^^ 

_     _  -41, 

^ 

.    36. 

All  others 

1 

113, 

593,000 
108,000 
519,000 
352.000 
272,000 
042,000 
942,000 


Fig.  116. 


0  100  200  300  400  500  600 

Manufacture  of  clothing,  by  states  (igog),  in  millions  of  dollars. 


The  Leather  Industry.  —  The  brunt  of  man's  struggle  with 
nature  for  a  living  is  met  by  his  hands  and  feet  and  he  has  found 
it  advantageous  to  protect  them  with  an  artificial  skin.  For 
this  purpose,  furs,  skins,  and  leather  furnish  tough  and  flexible 
material.  Animal  skins,  with  or  without  hair,  scraped  and 
cured  with  oil,  are  widely  used  among  primitive  people.  Leather 
is  a  product  of  the  arts  of  civilization  and,  before  the  days  of 
cheap  textiles,  was  made  into  clothing  more  serviceable  than  sani- 
tary. Outside  the  tropics  few  people  go  entirely  without  foot- 
wear, and  "  to  handle  without  gloves  "  has  come  to  mean  close 
and  vigorous  action. 

Hides  and  Tanning.  —  Hides  used  for  leather  are  taken  from  a 
great  variety  of  animals,  cattle,  sheep,  goats,  dogs,  pigs,  horses, 
and  even  alligators,  kangaroos,  monkeys,  walruses,  and  whales ; 
but  the  skins  of  domestic  animals  are  by  far  the  most  important. 


After  a  thorough  preparation  by  soaking,  cleaning,  and  removing  the  hair 
or  wool,  hides  are  tanned  or  converted  into  leather  by  two  processes.  The 
oldest,  and  until  recently  the  only,  method  accomplished  this  by  the  use  of 
tannin  obtained  from  various  barks,  woods,  and  leaves.  The  principal 
sources  are  oak  and  hemlock  bark,  but  birch,  spruce,  chestnut,  quebracho 


2  24 


THE    EASTERN   STATES:   MANUFACTURES 


from  Argentina,  sunuu:  from  Sicily,  and  various  other  materials  arc  used. 
The  bark,  or  wood  is  ground  and  leached  with  hot  water  to  obtain  a  strong 
solution  of  tannin.  The  hides  arc  soaked  in  vats  of  this  tan  liquor  for  a  year 
or  more.  Within  the  last  twenty  years,  vegetable  tan  liquor  has  been 
largely  displaced  in  the  United  States  by  solutions  of  various  chemicals, 

chiefly  potassium  bichro- 
mate. By  the  chemical 
I)rocess  hides  are  converted 
into  leather  in  a  few  days. 
The  hides  of  steers,  cows, 
and  calves  make  heavy 
leather  used  for  soles  and 
coarse  shoes.  The  skins 
of  wild  goats  furnish 
material  for  light  shoes 
and  for  gloves. 

The  United  States 
is  the  richest  country 
in  the  world  in  tanning 
materials  and  leads  in 
the  manufacture  of 
leather.  The  forests 
located  the  tanneries 
which  were  once  almost 
as  numerous  as  grist- 
mills from  Maine  to 
Georgia,  and  later 
westward  to  Wiscon- 
sin. Better  facihties 
for  transporting  the 
bulky  bark,  the  importation  of  hides  at  the  great  seaports,  and 
the  rise  of  the  factory  system  have  concentrated  the  tanning 
industry  in  a  few  states,  mostly  in  the  Eastern  States.  The 
chemical  process  has  made  Philadelphia  the  greatest  leather 
center  in  the  world,  and  Pennsylvania  the  leading  state ;  Wis- 
consin  stands    second,   with    Massachusetts    not    far    behind. 


Fig.  117.  —  The  village  shoemaker. 


BOOTS   AND   SHOES 


225 


Hides  arc  obtained  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  nearly 
$100,000,000  worth  arc  imported,  more  than  one  third  from 
Argentina.  More  than  100  million  goatskins  are  brought  from 
India,  China,  Mexico,  and  other  arid  countries. 

Boots  and  Shoes.  —  Long  after  textiles  and  clothing  had 
become  factory  products,  footwear  continued  to  be  made  by  hand, 
either  in  the  household  or  in  one-man  shops  (Fig.  117).  The 
man  who  could  sit  on  a  bench  and  with  a  few  tools  make  a  pair 
of  boots,  cutting  out  the  pieces  from  a  "  side  "  of  leather,  sewing 
or  pegging  them  together  with  wooden  pegs,  and  fitting  each 
pair  to  the  measure  of  the  individual  customer,  was  an  artisan 
of  no  mean  skill.  The  village  shoemaker's  shop  was  a  social  as 
well  as  an  economic  center,  from  which  gossip  and  sometimes 
wisdom  and  culture  were  disseminated  in  the  community. 


Fig.  118.  —  A  shoe  taclory  in  Massachusetts. 


Handmade  footwear  has  now  been  almost  entirely  superseded 
by  shoes  made  in  factories  which  turn  out  5000  to  10,000 
pairs  a  day  (Fig.  118).     It  is  one  of  the  most  complex  and  highly 


226 


THE    EASTERN   STATES:   MANUFACTURES 


organized  of  liKluslrics.  Scores  of  pieces  of  leather  of  different 
shapes,  sizes,  and  quaHties  are  cut  out  and  put  together  to  make 
one  shoe,  which  is  finished  by  scouring,  staining,  cleaning,  ironing, 
and  polishing.  In  all  about  fifty  operations  are  rc(iuire(l,  each 
performed  by  a  different  machine  and  operator.  The  work  is 
completely  revolutionized.  Formerly  a  single  artisan  made  a 
whole  shoe  by  hand.  Now  each  workman  makes  only  some 
small  part  of  a  shoe  with  a  machine,  little  skill  being  required. 
While  the  excellence  of  the  work  and  the  ability  required  of  the 
workman  have  necessarily  deteriorated,  a  great  variety  in  quality, 
style,  and  size  is  turned  out  at  less  cost  and  people  are  better 
shod  than  before. 

The  boot  and  shoe  industry,  Hke  that  of  leather,  is  strongly  concentrated 
in  the  Eastern  States,  which  turn  out  about  three  fourths  of  the  250  million 
pairs  made.  Massachusetts  alone  produces  nearly  one  half,  chiefly  at  Lynn, 
Brockton,  and  other  towns  near  Boston.  Recently  there  has  been  a  tend- 
ency of  the  industry  to  spread  westward,  and  St.  Louis  has  become  the  third 

UNITED  STATES. $512,797,642 

g  50  100  150  200  250 

Massachusetts 


Missouri 

New  York 

New  Hampshire 
Ohio 

Pennsylvania 
All  others 

Fig.  iig.  — 


236,342.915 

48,751,235 
48,185,914 
39,439,544 
31,550,957 
20,218,784 
88,308,293 
50  too  150  200  250 

Manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes,  by  states  (iqoq),  in  millions  of  dollars. 


city  and  Missouri  the  second  state,  although  producing  less  than  one  tenth 
of  the  total  (Fig.  119)  * 

American  methods  of  tanning,  and  the  machinery  for  making  shoes,  have 
extended  to  Europe,  with  results  similar  to  those  in  the  United  States. 

Gloves.  —  Compared  with  shoes,  gloves  are  articles  of  luxury 
worn  by  the  few  and  subject  to  changes  of  taste  and  style.  Their 
manufacture  is  in  some  degree  an  artistic  industry,  and  much 
more  simple  than  that  of  shoes.  Goatskins  are  specially  pre- 
pared by  scouring,  stretching,  dyeing,  and  softening  with  yolks  of 
eggs.     The  pieces  are  cut  with  dies  or  stamps  and  sewed  on 


PAPER   AND   PRINTING  227 

specially  constructed  machines.  About  one  half  the  gloves 
made  in  the  United  States  come  from  two  small  towns,  Glovers- 
ville  and  Johnstown  in  central  New  York,  where  Scotch  glove 
makers  settled  and  established  the  business  a  century  ago. 

In  France,  Germany,  Holland,  and  Belgium,  leather  is  tanned  with  bark 
from  the  basket  willow  and  converted  into  a  large  output  of  line  kid  gloves. 
The  greatest  center  is  around  Grenoble  in  the  lower  Rhone  valley.  This  is 
due  to  the  supply  of  goatskins  produced  in  the  mountainous  and  arid  Medi- 
terranean countries,  to  water  power  from  the  Alps  distributed  by  electricity 
to  many  small  factories,  and  to  the  artistic  ability  of  the  people. 

Rubber. — A  notable  feature  of  modern  scientific  economy  is 
the  extensive  and  increasing  use  of  rubber.  The  method  of  col- 
lecting crude  rubber  has  been  given  on  page  32.  The  enormous 
demand  for  it  has  led  to  the  planting  of  rubber  trees  in  Ceylon 
and  the  Malay  Peninsula  and  Islands.  "Wild"  or  native 
rubber  is  obtained  from  many  species  of  trees  and  vines,  one  of 
which  is  grown  in  the  United  States  as  an  ornamental  house 
plant.  They  are  widely  distributed  over  tropical  America, 
Africa,  and  the  East  Indies.  The  crude  gum  was  called  rubber 
because  it  was  first  used  as  an  eraser.  The  Goodyear  process 
(1842)  of  making  it  hard  and  durable  by  mixing  it  with  sulphur 
was  an  invention  of  greater  importance  than  the  chemical  tan- 
ning of  leather.  It  made  possible  rubber  boots  and  shoes,  water- 
proof clothing,  pneumatic  tires  for  bicycles  and  automobiles, 
hose,  tubing,  combs,  buttons,  and  other  "  hard  rubber  "  articles. 
The  people  of  the  United  States  consume  about  a  pound  of 
crude  rubber  apiece  every  year,  and  manufacture  it  into  goods 
worth  $178,000,000.  It  is  possible  to  make  artificial  rubber 
out  of  starch,  and  the  supply  may  become  abundant  and 
cheap. 

Paper  and  Printing.  —  In  the  economy  of  advanced  peoples 
paper  is  almost  as  important  as  textiles  (Fig.  120).  The 
quantity  of  paper  used  might  be  taken  as  a  better  index  of  the 
stage  of  civilization  than  soap  or  iron.     Paper  is  almost  the  only 


228 


TTII'    EASTERN  STATES:  MANUFACTURES 


Fig.  I  20.  I'riiitiiig  wealher  maps.  The  while  stone,  having  the  iiiaj)  engrav'ed  on  it, 
slides  under  the  small  rollers  which  carry  ink,  then  under  the  large  cylinder  which,  as  it 
turns,  presses  a  sheet  of  paper  upon  the  stone. 

material  by  which  literature  is  distributed,  and  is,  therefore, 
closely  related  to  the  intellectual  life  of  the  people.  Paper  con- 
sists of  matted  vegetable  fiber  and  can  be  made  from  a  great 
variety  of  materials.  Cotton  and  linen  rags,  grass,  straw,  and 
wood  are  commonly  used.  They  are  ground  to  a  fine  pulp, 
mixed  with  water,  and  spread  out  in  sheets  to  dry.  The  entire 
process  is  now  performed  on  a  large  scale  by  machines,  some  of 
which  turn  out  50  tons  a  day. 


Since  wood  pulp  became  the  chief  material  for  paper  making,  mills  have 
been  built  in  the  northern  forests.  The  highlands  of  New  York  and  New 
England  and  the  wilderness  of  Ontario,  Quebec,  and  Newfoundland  furnish 
raw  material  and  water  power  to  the  largest  plants.  Spruce  wood  is  most 
sought  for,  but  hemlock,  pine,  fir,  poplar,  Cottonwood,  and  other  species 
are  used.     The  solid  logs  ground  upon  a  grindstone  yield  a  pulp  which,  when 


SHIPBUILDING 


229 


screened,  pressed,  and  dried  makes  common  "  newspaper."  A  much  better 
grade  suitable  for  books  is  made  by  digesting  wood  chips  in  hot  alkali. 
Holyoke,  Mass.  is  the  chief  center  for  rag  and  line  writing  papers.  In  the 
wheat  belt  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  coarse  wrapping  paper  and  straw 
board  are  made  from  wheat  straw.  New  York,  INIassachusetts,  and  Maine 
are  the  leading  states  in  the  paper  industry,  and  their  only  western  rival  is 
Wisconsin.  A  single  metropolitan  newspaper  may  use  every  day  25 
tons  of  paper  made  from  35  tons  of  wood  and  issue  a  square  mile  of  print. 
To  supply  one  paper  mill  requires  the  destruction  of  thousands  of  acres  of 
forest.  Cheap  paper  is  as  necessary  to  civilization  as  any  other  commodity, 
and  to  find  material  for  it  is  one  of  the  problems  of  the  near  future. 

Printing  and  publishing  is  one  of  the  most  widely  diffused  of 
industries.  There  are  iaw  counties  or  towns  in  the  country,  in 
which  there  is  no  printing  press.     Yet  more  than  half  the  literary 


UNITED  STATES_ 


-$737,876,000 


New  York - 

Illinois 

Pennsylvania  _. 
Massachusetts . 
Ohio. 
Hissourl- 
California. 
.All  others.. 


-216,946,000 
,-  87.247.000 
—70.584.000 
.-47,445,000 
..41,657,000 
..29.651.000 
..25.031.000 
.  219,.315,000 


80  120  160  200  240 

Fig.  121.  —  Printing  and  publishing,  by  states  (igog),  in  millions  of  dollars. 

product  of  all  kinds  comes  from  the  Eastern  States  and  nearly  one 
third  from  New  York  (Fig.  121).  Among  cities  New  York, 
Chicago,  and  Philadelphia  are  most  important. 

Shipbuilding.  —  Outside  the  work  of  the  Federal  Government, 
general  shipbuilding  is  carried  on  chiefly  in  three  districts : 
(i)  Along  the  Atlantic  coast  from  Maine  to  Virginia ;  (2)  on  the 
Great  Lakes ;  and  (3)  on  the  Pacific  coast.  The  Eastern  States 
do  about  three  fifths  of  the  business,  New  York  ranking  first 
among  states,  New  Jersey  second,  and  Virginia  third.  On  the 
lakes,  the  number  of  large  steel  freighters  built  at  Cleveland, 
Detroit,  and  Milwaukee  brings  the  total  value  up  to  one  fifth  of 
the  whole.  The  value  of  iron  and  steel  ships  built  in  the  United 
States  is  more  than  twice  that  of  wooden  vessels.     In  total  ton- 


ELEM.    ECON.    GEOG. 


14 


230 


HI.    I..\SII;K\   S'rATKS:   manukacturks 


nage  of  vessels  launched,  Ohio  K-ads  the  slates,  with  New  York 
second.  Maine  builds  more  sailing  vessels  than  any  other  state. 
Specialties.  —  There  are  many  other  lines  of  manufacture 
which  belong  especially  to  the  Eastern  States,  but  which  are  of 
minor  importance  compared  with  those  already  discussed.  The 
location  of  most  of  them  was  originally  determined  by  some 
natural  advantage  of  water  power,  raw  materials,  or  transporta- 
tion. Some  owe  their  existence  to  individual  enterprise  and 
capital,  or  to  the  presence  of  skilled  labor.  An  industry  once  es- 
tablished is  likely  to  continue  after  the  special  conditions  which 
led  to  its  foundation  have  ceased  to  exist.     (See  Fig.  122.) 


UNITED  STATES 0. 

Silk..- 

Woolen  goods 

Dyeing  and  finishing 

Carpets  and  rugs 

Hosiery  and  knit  goods 

Cordage  and  twine. 

Boots  and  shoes. 

Clothing 

Electrical  machinery 

Paper  and  wood  pul(i 

Chemicals 

Leather 

Cotton  goods 

Gloves  and  mittens 

SteeL 

Shipbuilding  _. 

Glass 

Printing  and  publishing.  __ 
Pig  iron 


PER  CENT 
40  50  60 


F'ndry  &  mac h. shop  products 

Paint  and  varnish 

Soap 

Fermented  liquors 

Pottery 

Canning  and  preserving 

All  manufactures 

Value  added  by  manufacture. 


0 


60 


70 


Fig.  122.  —  Rank  of  Eastern  States  in  manufactures.     (See  Table  V,  Appendix.) 


To  this  minor  class  belong  in  New  York  state  flour  milling  at  Rochester, 
the  manufacture  of  cornstarch  at  Oswego,  of  salt  and  chemicals  at  Syracuse, 
of  shirts,  collars,  and  cuflfs  at  Troy,  and  of  aluminum  and  shredded  wheat 
at  Niagara  Fal\s.     In  Connecticut  hats  are  made  at  Danbury,  bicycles  at 


QUESTIONS 


231 


Hartford,  firearms  at  New  Haven,  clocks  at  Waterbury,  hardware  at  New 
Britain,  brass  and  bronze  al  Ansonia  and  Bridgeport,  and  plated  ware  at 
Meriden.  Providence,  R.I.  is  noted  for  jewelry,  Waltham,  Mass.  for 
watches,  and  Trenton,  N.J.  for  pottery. 

After  the  outbreak  of  war  in  Europe  in  1914,  a  new  industry  sprang  up  in 
the  Eastern  States.  Hundreds  of  factories  were  enlarged,  refitted,  or  newly 
built  for  the  production  of  arms,  shells,  explosives,  and  other  munitions  of 
war,  for  exportation  to  Europe.  This  has  grown  to  be  one  of  the  leading 
industries  of  the  country,  with  products  of  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  in 
value  annually.     This  business  will  probably  not  be  permanent. 

The  Eastern  States  produce  one  half  the  total  value  of  goods 
manufactured  in  the  United  States.     The  value  per  capita  is 


UNITED  STATES 


New  York 

Pennsylvania-. 

Illinois 

Massachusetts 

Ohio 

New  Jersey 


-$20,672,051,870 


All  others " 


369,490.192 
626,742,034 
919,276.594 
490,529,386 
,437.935.817 
145,529,076 


—  8,682,548.771 


2500 


Fig.   123.  —  Rank  of  states  in  total  value  of  all  manufactures  (igog),  in 
millions  of  dollars. 

$341,  and  is  highest  in  Connecticut  ($440),  Massachusetts($443), 
New  Jersey  ($451),  and  Rhode  Island  ($517).     (See  Fig.  123.) 

Summary.  —  On  account  of  having  water  power,  coal,  and 
access  to  the  sea,  the  Eastern  States  have  become  one  of  the  great 
manufacturing  regions  of  the  world.  They  excel  especially 
in  textiles,  boots  and  shoes,  clothing,  iron  and  steel,  paper  and 
printing,  and  shipbuilding. 


QUESTIONS 

I.  Niagara  Falls  is  one  of  the  great  scenic  features  of  America  visited  by 
about  1,000,000  people  every  year.  To  divert  water  for  power  purposes 
will  impair  or  destroy  its  beauty.  Which  is  of  greater  value  to  the  people, 
the  power  or  the  scenery  ? 


232  TIIH   EASTERN  STATES:   MANUFACTURES 

2.  If  iron  ore  could  he  smelted  al  a  low  lemperalure,  wlial  dilTerence  might 
it  have  made  in  the  history  of  mankind? 

3.  How  does  a  bhicksmith  111  a  horseshoe?  weld  a  bar?  What  are  horse- 
shoe nails  made  of?     Why? 

4.  Of  what  are  knives,  axes,  springs,  and  hammers  made?     Why? 

5.  What  arc  the  good  qualities  of  cotton  for  cordage  and  cloth  ?  How 
is  cotton  superior  to  linen?  to  wool?  to  silk? 

6.  Why  is  not  raw  silk  produced  in  the  United  States? 

7.  For  what  is  leather  used  besides  footwear? 

8.  How  might  a  scarcity  of  paper  be  beneficial  to  the  community? 

g.  Compare  the  modern  iron  and  steel  worker  with  the  smith  who 
hammered  out  implements  and  weapons  by  hand  ;  the  operative  in  a  textile 
mill  with  the  spinner  and  weaver  who  worked  at  home  ;  the  man  who  works 
in  a  shoe  factory  with  the  shoemaker  of  fifty  years  ago.  Which  industrial 
system,  the  domestic  or  the  factory,  tends  to  make  more  intelligent  and 
valuable  citizens? 

10.  Has  the  great  development  of  mechanical  invention  been,  on  the 
whole,  beneficial  to  mankind  ?     Why  ? 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE    EASTERN    STATES:    COMMERCE  AND    TRANSPORTA- 
TION 

Waterways.  —  Natural  and  artiticial  waterways  have  played 
a  large  part  in  the  economic  development  of  the  Eastern  States. 
The  greatest  waterway  is  the  sea  and  its  arms,  which  furnished 
entrance  and  foothold  for  the  colonists.  The  coastwise  traffic 
is  carried  on  by  hundreds  of  steamers  and  sailing  vessels,  and  on 
the  bays  and  rivers  by  thousands  of  small  craft.  Chesapeake 
Bay  and  its  branches  furnish  about  500  miles  of  waterway,  Dela- 
ware Bay  120  miles,  the  Hudson  150  miles,  and  the  Connecticut, 
Narragansett  Bay,  the  Kennebeck,  and  the  Penobscot  50  miles 
each.  The  drowned  valleys,  bays,  sounds,  and  lagoons  of  the 
Atlantic  coast  (Fig.  88) ,  extending  with  some  interruptions  from 
Massachusetts  to  Florida,  provide  a  natural,  protected  "  inland 
waterway  "  for  small  boats.'  The  recently  opened  ship  canal 
across  Cape  Cod  completes  the  "  inside  passage,"  between  New 
York  and  Boston  through  Long  Island  Sound,  Buzzards  Bay, 
and  Cape  Cod  Bay.  The  part  of  the  inland  waterway  south 
of  New  York  is  now  little  used,  but  its  improvement  and  utiliza- 
tion are  one  of  the  probabilities  of  the  future. 

Erie  Canal.  —  The  Appalachian  Highlands  were  a  formidable 
barrier  to  the  progress  of  settlement  and  economic  expansion 
until  the  opening  of  the  Erie  Canal  in  1825  connected  the  Great 
Lakes  with  the  coast  at  New  York.  This  was  made  possible 
by  the  drowned  valley  of  the  Hudson  and  by  the  valley  of  the 
Mohawk  (Fig.  124).  This  river  and  its  much  larger  glacial  pred- 
ecessor have  cut  a  gap  through  the  highland,  which  leads  by 
easy  grades  to  the  shores  of  lakes  Ontario  and  Erie.     The  canal 

233 


234 


rHK    EASTF.KN    STATKS  :    COMMKKCK 


was  tlic  mosl  important  artiluial  walcrwa}' and  internal  improve- 
ment ever  constructed  in  the  United  States.  By  it  the  state  and 
city  of  New  York  gained  control  of  the  trade  of  the  (ireat  Lakes 


^^^^<^  ^    ^^ 


0      10     'JO     30    40     50 


V7^ r 


■  ■  ■  mBarffo  Canal  =^=tjld  Canalit  o        *        /  \ 

<■    L  c'='.l     K     K  u     X     T     '^  ^Oswego      ,''-,., 

On.,.,,     ^^i^^"/^  i;r 


r        =J\  .#*      «/        ',  <^i.    >  AlbanyJ      JflJ 


CATTARAUGUS 


STEUBEN /rscVOVuB'.        l"*"" 


TOMPKINS"""  ^\"'',    (* 
Montour  Fulls       -A.  CV 


;    ALBANV*)lt^ 


DELA^yVRE    ""■)•■    GREENE*!©^"*       .'■? 


Fig.  124.  —  Erie  Barge  Canal. 

and  the  Middle  West.  It  remained  the  most  important  route  of 
transportation  for  about  forty  years,  but  was  later  reduced  by 
railroad  competition  to  a  position  of  insignificance.     It  is  now 


{BiilTalo  Lin    Win.) 

Fig.   125.  —  Erie  Barge  Canal.      Rock  cut  at  Waterford.      Note  material  from  cut  piled 

on  the  banks. 


RAILROADS 


235 


being  reconstructed  as  a  barge  canal  twelve  feet  deep  and  is 
expected  to  regain  its  former  importance.     (See  Figs.  125,  126.) 


Fig.  126.  — -  Lock  on  the  Erie  Barge  Canal. 


Boats  on  the  old  canal  carried  250  tons  and  were  towed  by  mules.  On  the 
enlarged  canal  the  boats  will  have  a  capacity  of  1000  tons  and  will  be  pro- 
pelled by  steam  or  electricity.  A  ship  canal  at  least  twenty  feet  deep  which 
would  permit  the  largest  lake  vessels  to  pass  from  Buffalo  to  the  Hudson 
and  thence  to  New  York,  may  in  the  future  constitute  the  principal  outlet 
for  the  commerce  of  the  Great  Lakes.  The  Mohawk  gap,  traversed  by  such  a 
canal  and  by  the  six  tracks  of  the  New  York  Central  Railroad  system,  would 
become  the  most  important  gateway  of  the  continent.  The  success  of  the 
Erie  Canal  led  to  the  construction  of  many  others,  some  of  which  were  in- 
tended to  connect  Atlantic  seaports  with  the  Ohio  through  the  water  gaps 
of  the  Northern  Appalachians.  They  were  shallow,  and  small  boats  towed 
by  animals  could  not  compete  with  the  railroads  which  took  advantage  of 
the  same  natural  routes.  Most  of  them  have  been  abandoned,  and  those 
still  open  play  an  inconsiderable  part  in  transportation. 

Railroads.  —  The  main  trunk  lines  of  railway  follow  the  routes 
which  the  rivers  have  already  graded  for  them  across  the  high- 
lands (Fig.  127).     Of  these  the  route  of  the  New  York  Central 


236 


THE   EASTERN   STATES:    COMMERCE 


system  through  the  Hudson-Mohawk  \alley  is  by  far  the  most 
favorable.  The  lirst  railroad  in  the  United  States,  now  the 
Baltimore  and  Ohio,  has  been  extended  from  Chesapeake  Bay  up 
the  Potomac  valley  to  the  Ohio,  Mississippi,  and  Lake  Michigan. 


Fig.  127.  —  A  railroad  following  a  stream  valley  thmugli  tiu-  Inrrstdl  plateau  nt  West 

Virginia. 

The  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  takes  its  name  from  the  waters  which 
it  connects  through  the  valleys  of  the  James  and  Kanawha.  The 
Pennsylvania  system  passes  from  Delaware  Bay  through  the 
Appalachian  walls  by  way  of  the  Susquehanna- Juniata  valley. 
The  valleys  of  the  Delaware  and  its  branches,  with  those  of  the 
upper  Susquehanna,  furnish  similar  but  more  difificult  routes, 
between  the  sea  and  the  lakes  for  the  Erie,  Lehigh  Valley,  and 


FOREIGN  COMMERCE  237 

Lackawanna  railroads.  These  are  the  mam  trunk  lines  upon 
which  the  traffic  of  the  Middle  Western  network  and  the  strands 
of  lake  navigation  are  concentrated.  There  are  no  important 
north-south  lines  except  those  connecting  the  seaports  and  the 
Hudson-Champlain  route  between  New  York  and  Montreal. 

Boston,  the  railroad  center  of  New  England,  is  connected  with  the  New 
York  Central  system  by  the  Boston  and  Albany  and  the  Hoosac  Tunnel 
line  across  the  highlands  to  the  Hudson ;  with  New  York  directly  by  the 
New  York,  New  Haven,  and  Hartford  Railroad ;  and  with  Montreal,  Port- 
land, and  Augusta  by  the  Boston  and  Maine.  The.Grand  Trunk  Railroad 
of  Canada  has  a  terminus,  most  important  in  winter  when  the  St.  Lawrence 
is  frozen,  at  Portland  ;  and  the  Canadian  Pacific  crosses  central  JVIaine  on  its 
way  to  St.  John  and  Halifax.  The  heaviest  freight  trafiic  is  over  the  New 
York  Central  between  New  York  and  Buffalo  and  over  the  Pennsylvania 
between  New  York  and  Pittsburgh.  The  greatest  number  of  passengers 
are  carried  between  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  where  hundreds  of  trains  a 
day  are  run.  The  volume  of  traffic  is  concentrated  upon  a  few  great  routes, 
where  serious  natural  difficulties  have  been  overcome  by  the  exercise  of 
engineering  skill.  Their  capacity  has  been  increased  by  multiplying  the 
number  of  parallel  tracks,  ballasting  the  roadbed  with  stone,  cutting  off 
sharp  curves,  diminishing  the  steepness  of  the  grades,  building  stone  and 
concrete  bridges,  boring  tunnels,  laying  heavy  rails,  and  using  steel  cars 
drawn  by  the  most  powerful  engines.  The  enormous  movement  of  goods 
and  people  over  a  rough  country  has  compelled  the  railroad  companies 
to  adopt  a  construction,  equipment,  and  management  scarcely  equaled 
elsewhere  in  the  world. 

While  the  Eastern  States  have  but  16  per  cent  of  the  railroad 
mileage  of  the  United  States,  multiple  tracks  make  it  equiva- 
lent to  several  times  that  proportion.  The  railway  density, 
or  number  of  miles  of  road  to  100  square  miles  of  area  is  17, 
but  it  is  not  so  uniformly  distributed  as  in  the  Middle  West. 
New  Jersey  leads  all  the  states  with  over  30  miles,  while 
Massachusetts  and  Pennsylvania  surpass  Ohio,  Illinois,  and 
Indiana. 

Foreign  Commerce.  —  If  the  Eastern  States  were  an  independ- 
ent political  unit,  their  foreign  commerce  would  exceed   their 


238  THK    llASTERN   STATi:S  :   COMMERCE 

domestic.  As  a  part  of  the  United  States  their  seaports  serve 
as  gateways,  not  only  lor  their  own  commerce  but  for  most 
of  that  of  the  Middle  West.  Their  exports  and  imports  amount 
to  64  per  cent  of  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  whole  country 

(Fig-  36). 

Summary.  —  The  natural  waterways  of  the  sea  and  the  Great 
Lakes,  connected  by  the  Erie  Canal,  give  the  Eastern  States 
the  best  facilities  for  commerce.  Difficulties  of  relief  have  been 
overcome  by  engineering  skill,  and  traffic  with  the  Middle  West 
is  concentrated  upon  a  few  railroad  systems  which  pass  through 
the  water  gaps  in  the  highlands. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  In  1902  the  state  of  New  York  voted  to  use  $101,000,000  for  the  en- 
largement of  the  Erie  Canal.  Most  of  the  popular  vote  in  favor  was  cast 
in  the  cities  of  New  York  and  Buffalo.     Why? 

2.  How  will  the  improvements  now  being  made  in  the  Erie  Canal  affect 
the  cost  of  transportation? 

3.  What  would  be  the  advantages  of  a  ship  canal  20  feet  deep  from  Lake 
Erie  to  the  Hudson  River  ?  What  use  could  be  made  upon  it  of  hydroelectric 
power  from  Niagara  Falls? 

4.  Should  the  cost  of  such  a  canal  be  borne  by  the  state  of  New  York 
or  by  the  Federal  Government  ?     Why  ? 

5.  Why  is  two  thirds  of  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States 
carried  on  from  the  eastern  side,  and  only  one  third  from  the  other  sides? 


CHAPTER   XIX 
THE    EASTERN    STATES:    AGRICULTURE    AND    FISHERIES 

Compared  with  the  Middle  West,  the  Eastern  States  are  poor 
in  agricultural  resources,  yet  previous  to  the  opening  of  the 
Middle  West  the  region  supported  7,000,000  people.  On  the 
lowlands  and  in  the  valleys  the  soil  is  generally  productive,  but 
on  the  uplands  and  mountains  it  is  fit  only  for  pasture  and 
forest.  The  largest  continuous  areas  of  agricultural  land  are 
on  the  Coastal  Plain  of  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Maryland,  and 
Virginia,  and  on  the  lake  plain  of  New  York.  The  most  valuable 
crop  is  hay,  amounting  to  26  per  cent  of  the  total  for  the  United 
States.  In  this  New  York  leads  all  other  states.  Maine,  New 
York,  and  Pennsylvania  produce  large  crops  of  potatoes,  rais- 
ing the  production  of  the  Eastern  States  to  31  per  cent  of  the 
total  (Fig.  131).  Western  New  York,  once  "  the  granary  of  the 
continent,"  has  yielded  that  title  to  the  Red  River  valley,  and 
wheat  has  been  superseded  by  potatoes,  beans,  vegetables,  and 
fruit.  In  yield  of  oats  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  hold  a  respect- 
able place.  It  is  remarkable  that  some  of  the  New  England 
states  hold  a  higher  record  for  yield  per  acre  of  the  common  crops 
than  any  in  the  Middle  West.  This  is  due  to  more  intensive 
farming  and  better  cultivation  of  smaller  acreage. 

Dairying.  —  Of  domestic  animals  milch  cows  are  the  most 
numerous,  amounting  to  one  fifth  of  the  total  in  the  United  States. 
The  hill  farms  are  generally  difficult  to  cultivate  and  profitable 
only  for  pasture.  Hay  is  grown  on  bottom  lands  in  permanent 
meadows,  w^hich  are  mowed  every  year  and  seldom  plowed. 
Many  large  cities  make  a  market  for  fresh  milk.  The  1,500,000 
quarts  of  milk  required  daily  for  the  city  of  New  York  are  obtained 

239 


240      THE   EASTERN  STATES:   AGRICULTURE  AND   FISHERIES 

chiefly  from  the  country  to  the  north  and  west  as  far  as  Lake 
Ontario.  It  is  brought  in  refrigerator  cars  attached  to  fast  trains 
a  distance  of  300  or  400  miles  in  some  cases.  'J'he  best  breeds 
of  cows  are  kept,  and  there  are  indivi(kial  cows  which  yield  20 
times  their  own  weight  of  milk  in  ayear.  The  strictest  rules  areen- 
forced  as  to  their  health  and  food,  and  the  cleanliness  of  the  stables, 
milkers,  and  cans.  By  this  means  the  death  rate  among  children 
in  cities  has  been  reduced  nearly  one  half.  In  value  of  dairy 
products,  New  York  is  second  only  to  Wisconsin  among  states. 

Market  Gardening.  —  The  growing  of  fresh  vegetables  and 
small  fruits  for  market  is  an  important  industry  in  the  vicinity 
of  all  the  large  cities.  Facilities  for  transportation  by  land  and  sea 
have  extended  it  to  great  distances.  Celery,  lettuce,  cabbage, 
asparagus,  peas,  beans,  tomatoes,  melons,  cucumbers,  berries, 
and  other  perishable  articles  are  supplied  in  large  quantities  by 
nearly  all  the  Eastern  States,  and  in  winter  from  the  Atlantic 
Coastal  Plain  as  far  south  as  Georgia. 

Orchard  Fruits.  —  The  Middle  West  and  the  Eastern  States 
share  equally  in  the  production  of  three  fifths  of  the  orchard  fruit 
of  the  United  States.  New  York  alone  is  credited  with  one  fifth. 
Peaches  are  most  abundant  on  the  Coastal  Plain  from  New  Jersey 
to  Virginia,  and  in  Michigan.  The  best  apple  belt  extends  from 
New  York  to  Michigan  and  Missouri,  but  the  Eastern  States 
produce  49  per  cent  of  the  crop  and  New  York  twice  as  many  as 
any  other  state  (Fig.  131). 

Apple  growing  is  most  concentrated  in  a  few  counties  of  the  lake  plain 
in  western  New  York,  where  limestone  and  lake  silt  soils  and  the  moderating 
influence  upon  temperature  of  a  large  body  of  water  render  the  conditions 
very  favorable.  Along  the  "  ridge  road  "  which  follows  a  former  beach  of 
Lake  Ontario,  one  may  ride  120  miles  through  an  almost  continuous  orchard. 
Scientific  horticulture  is  practiced  on  a  large  scale.  The  apple  tree  and 
fruit  are  subject  to  attack  by  many  fungous  and  insect  pests  which  are  con- 
trolled by  spraying  the  trees  several  times  a  year  with  liquids  fatal  to  the 
injurious  organism.  Careful  cultivation,  proper  food  in  the  form  of  fer- 
tilizers, and  more  constant  attention  than  would  be  given  to  a  herd  of  cattle, 


GRAPES 


241 


are  necessary  to  secure  the  best  yield  in  quantity  and  quality.     There  are 
trees  still  vigorous  at  the  age  of  100  years  and  yielding  50  lo  6o  barrels  of 


Fig.  128.  —  Sorting  and  packing  apples,  western  New  York. 

fruit  each.  The  best  apples,  assorted  according  to  size  and  quality,  are 
packed  in  barrels  for  market  (Fig.  128),  but  the  bulk  of  the  crop  is  dried  in 
specially  constructed  kilns  and  exported  to  Europe. 


Grapes.  —  The  Eastern  States  produce  more  than  half  the 
grapes  grown  east  of  the  Pacific  coast,  and  New  York  more  than 
any  other  state  except  CaHfornia.  The  Chautauqua  grape 
belt  occupies  a  strip  of  old  lake  bottom  from  one  to  ten  miles 
wide  along  the  shore  of  Lake  Erie  and  extends  through  Pennsyl- 
vania into  Ohio.  The  deep,  narrow  valleys  of  the  Finger  Lakes 
(p.  185)  are  protected  from  winds  and  contain  at  the  bottom  a 
body  of  water  which  prevents  early  frosts.  The  steep  valley 
sides  are  occupied  by  extensive  vineyards,  from  which  excellent 
table  grapes  and  wine  are  produced. 


24: 


nil':  i:astkrn  statks:  A(iRicui;ruKi';  and  fisiii:rii:s 


The  Decline  of  Agriculture.  -  In  New  l-jij^huul  and  New  York  large 
tracts  of  land  have  become,  after  a  century  or  two  of  cullivalion  by  the  early 
settlers  and  their  descendants,  too  poor  to  yield  a  living  to  the  farmer. 
Farms  have  declined  in  value  to  less  than  the  cost  ol"  ihc  buildings  upon  them, 
and  some,  abandoned  by  their  owners  as  unusable,  unsalable,  and  not  worth 

paying  taxes  upon,  have 
reverted  to  woodland. 
The  healthful  air  and 
beautiful  scenery  of  hills 
and  valleys,  lakes  and 
forests,  have  attracted 
many  people  from  the 
cities  to  buy  these  cheap 
lands  (Pig.  129)  and  to 
establish  estates  upon 
which  large  sums  are 
spent  for  pleasure  rather 
than  profit.  The  Berk- 
shire Hills  of  western 
Massachusetts  are  es- 
pecially famous  for  beautiful  country  seats.  Thousands  of  acres  of  worn- 
out  land  have  been  taken  up  and  reclaimed  by  foreign  immigrants,  who 
succeed  in  market  gardening,  dairying,  and  general  farming.  A  large  major- 
ity of  the  descendants  of  the  old  New  England  stock  have  gone  to  the  cities  or 
to  the  Middle  West,  leaving  the  rural  districts  to  be  occupied  by  people  of 
strange  names  and  habits,  who  are  contented  with  a  lower  scale  of  living. 


Fig.  129.  —  An  abandoned  farm. 


Fisheries  (p.  77). — It  has  been  said  that  the  first  settlers 
of  New  England  would  have  starved  if  it  had  not  been  for  the 
harvest  of  the  sea.  They  turned  from  the  barren  coast  lands 
and  found  subsistence  in  the  teeming  waters.  The  cool,  shallow 
waters  off  the  coast  abound  in  cod,  halibut,  herring,  and  mackerel. 
The  fishing  fleets  go  out  from  Gloucester  and  Boston  to  "  the 
banks  "  off  Nova  Scotia  and  Newfoundland  (Fig.  130),  where  each 
schooner  sends  out  small  boats  carrying  two  or  three  men  to  set 
and  bait  the  lines  attached  to  a  "  trawl  "  or  rope  half  a  mile  long. 
The  fish  are  removed  and  the  hooks  rebaited  every  day.  The  small 
boats  are  often  lost  in  a  fog  or  swamped  by  a  storm.    The  fish  are 


SUMMARY 


243 


cleaned  and  salted  on  hoard  the  schooner,  which  docs  not  return  to 
port  until  its  cargo  is  full.  The  value  of  the  catch  of  the  whole 
United  States  is  $54,000,000,  or  about  one  sixth  as  much  as  that 
of  the  eggs  laid  by  the  hens.     Chesapeake  Bay  and  Long  Island 


Fig. 


Fishing  boats  off  Newfoundland. 


Sound  are  famous  for  their  oyster  beds,  where  the  young  fry  are 
sown  and  protected  until  mature. 

Summary.  —  The  surface  and  soil  of  the  Eastern  States  are 
unfavorable  for  cereal  agriculture  on  a  large  scale.  The  rural 
population  arc  engaged  chiefly  in  dairying,  fruit  growing,  and 
market  gardening.     (See  Fig.  131.) 

PER  CENT 
0  10  20  30  40  50  60  70  80  90 100 


UNITED  STATES 

Apples .. 

Dairy  products 

Orchard  fruits 

Potatoes  

Hay 

Tobacco 

Grapes 

Cows 

All  crops 

All  animal  products 
All  farm  products 
Farm  property 
Improved  land. 


10         20         30         40         50         60         70  80         90        100 

Fig.  131.  —  Rank  of    Eastern    States   in    farms  aad   farm   products.      (See  Table   III, 

Appendix.) 


244      T'l'"-    KASTERN   STATKS  :   A(;RI(ULTURE   AND    FISHERIES 

QUESTIONS 

1.  .\vv  I  he  unfavorable  conditions  for  a^'riculturf  in  the  Kastern  Stales 
due  more  to  cUmate  or  to  rehef  and  soil  ? 

2.  Which  recjuircs  ihc  greater  skill  antl  business  ability,  lo  raise  and 
market  corn  or  api)les  ?  wheal  or  milk  ? 

3.  Why  are  fish  more  abundant  north  of  Cape  Cod  than  south  of  it  ? 

4.  If  the  Eastern  States  were  as  good  an  agricultural  region  as  the  Middle 
West,  would  the  development  of  manufactures  and  commerce  be  greater  or 
less? 

5.  Which  is  the  more  complex  and,  therefore,  more  highly  developed,  the 
economv  of  the  Eastern  States  or  that  of  the  Middle  West  ? 


CHAPTER   XX 
THE   EASTERN    STATES:   CITIES 

The  urban  population  of  the  Eastern  States  averages  67  per 
cent,  rising  in  Rhode  Island  to  96  per  cent,  in  Massachusetts  to 
92  per  cent,  in  Connecticut  to  89  per  cent,  in  New  York  to  79 
per  cent,  and  in  New  Jersey  to  75  per  cent.  This  imphes  the 
existence  not  only  of  a  few  very  large  cities  but  also  of  a  large 
number  of  small  cities.  There  are  272  cities  of  more  than  10,000 
inhabitants,  of  which  107  have  over  25,000  and  22  over  100,000. 
There  are  six  metropolitan  districts  of  450,000  people  or  over, 
of  which  four  are  seaports,  one  a  lake  port,  and  one  a  river  port. 
(See  Table  VH,  Appendix.) 

New  York.  —  The  metropolis  of  x\merica,  the  greatest  seaport 
and  the  largest  urban  center  in  the  world,  could  not  have  attained 
such  a  rank  without  superior  advantages  of  position  and  site. 
Situated  about  midway  in  the  coast  line  of  the  Eastern  States, 
New  York  is  about  3000  miles  and  five  to  ten  days'  voyage  by 
steamer  from  the  nearest  European  ports.  Its  preeminence 
among  Atlantic  ports  is  due  chiefly  to  its  accessibility  through 
the  Hudson-Mohawk  gap  to  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Middle 
West.  The  Erie  Canal  extended  the  tributary  area  of  the  city  to 
the  Mississippi  River  and  eventually  to  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
giving  it  a  start  of  its  rivals  which  no  obstacle  could  check. 
The  anthracite  field  100  miles  to  the  west  is  another  powerful 
factor  for  progress  which  it  shares  equally  with  Philadelphia. 
The  forests  of  the  Appalachians,  Adirondacks,  and  northern  New 
England,  the  brick  clays  of  the  Hudson  valley  (p.  199),  sand- 
stone from  Connecticut,  marble  from  Vermont,  slate  from 
Pennsylvania,  and  trap  rock  from  New  Jersey,  contribute  to  the 

ELEM.  ECON.  GEOG.  —  1 5    245 


246  THK    KASTERN   STATICS:   (ITIKS 

construction  of  the  great  city.  Aside  from  these  the  resources 
of  the  immediate  hinterland  are  not  important. 

Site.  —  The  site  of  New  York  comprises  an  assemblage  of 
islands,  peninsulas,  and  arms  of  the  sea  scarcely  matched  else- 
where. The  Borough  of  Manhattan,  the  heart  of  the  city,  is  an 
island  thirteen  miles  long  and  about  two  miles  wide,  between 
the  Hudson  River  on  the  west  and  the  East  and  Harlem  rivers  on 
the  east.  In  relief  it  is  a  massive  ridge  of  schist  which  rises 
from  sea  level  at  the  south  end  to  a  height  of  200  feet  at  the  north. 
The  slopes  are  in  some  places  precipitous.  The  Borough  of  the 
Bronx,  a  peninsula  about  six  miles  across  between  the  Hudson 
and  Harlem  rivers  and  Long  Island  Sound,  resembles  Manhattan 
in  relief  and  structure  but  is  less  rugged.  The  Borough  of  Brook- 
lyn occupies  an  undulating  surface  of  glacial  hills  at  the  west  end 
of  Long  Island.  The  Boroughs  of  Queens  and  Richmond  are 
larger  in  area  than  the  others  combined,  but  are  as  yet  sparsely 
occupied.  The  west  bank  of  the  Hudson  is  formed  by  the  Pali- 
sades, a  high  clifY  of  trap  rock,  beyond  which  is  a  belt  of  shallow 
water  and  tidal  marsh  four  miles  wide.  The  cities  of  Jersey 
City  and  Hoboken  cover  the  lower  end  of  the  Palisades  ridge,  and 
with  Bayonne,  Newark,  Elizabeth,  Orange,  Passaic,  and  Pater- 
son,  farther  inland,  belong,  although  in  another  state,  to  the 
metropolitan  district  and  are  integral  parts  of  the  economic  city 
of  New  York  (Fig.  132). 

The  bodies  of  water  are  as  important  as  the  land.  The  Lower 
Bay  is  wide  open  to  the  sea,  roomy  and  protected,  but  shallow, 
and  millions  of  dollars  have  been  spent  in  dredging  deep  channels 
through  it  for  large  ships.  It  is  connected  through  the  Narrows, 
a  mile  wide,  with  the  Upper  Bay,  a  deep,  jug-shaped  basin  about 
six  miles  across.  The  Hudson  River  opens  into  it  from  the 
north  and  the  East  River  from  the  northeast.  These  "  rivers  " 
are  deep  arms  of  the  sea  in  which  the  currents  are  controlled  by 
the  tides.  Newark  and  Raritan  bays  on  the  New  Jersey  coast 
are  too  shallow  to  be  of  great  commercial  importance.     The  same 


248 


THE   EASTKRN   STATES  :   CITIES 


is  true  of  Jamaica  Bay  on  ihc  south  coast  of  Queens,  but  the  con- 
version of  these  l)ays  into  conmiodious  artificial  harbors  is  a 
possible  undertaking  which  the  needs  of  the  future  may  demand. 


Business  District.  —  The 
of  New  York  is  in  the  oldest 
It  is  a  triangular  area  about 


Fig. 


shipping,  wholesale,  and  manufacturing  center 
part  of  the  city,  at  the  lower  end  of  Manhattan, 
two  miles  on  a  side  between  the  two  rivers  and 

touching  the  waters  of  the 

bay.  Its  water  front  is 
lined  with  docks,  where 
ships  are  loaded  and  un- 
loaded and  goods  con- 
veyed to  and  from  w-are- 
houses  by  short  hauls. 
Here  the  high  value  of 
land  has  led  to  the  utiliza- 
tion of  space  upward  in 
the  form  of  steel-framed 
"  skyscrapers,"  rising  in 
some  cases  750  feet  above 
the  street,  each  housing 
a  population  equal  to 
that  of  a  good-sized  town. 
The  streets  are  narrow 
and  resemble  canyons 
(Fig.  133).  The  business 
district  has  extended  up- 
town, crowding  out  the 
old  residences  and  most 
of  the  churches  and  other 
public  buildings,  until  it 


A  city  canyon.     Pine  Street,  New  York. 


occupies  about  twice  the  original  area.  It  gradually  merges  northward 
into  a  district  of  retail  shops,  theaters,  and  palatial  hotels  which  extends 
to  the  lower  end  of  Central  Park.  Extensive  docks,  warehouses,  and  fac- 
tories line  the  Brooklyn  side  of  East  River  and  the  Jersey  shore  of  the 
Hudson,  where  most  of  the  railroads  from  the  west  have  their  terminal 
stations.  The  principal  navy  yard  of  the  United  States  is  located  in 
Brooklyn. 

Residence  Districts.  —  The  principal  slum  or  poor  residence  district  is 
on  the  lower  east  side  of  Manhattan,  where  the  tenement  houses  shelter 


NEW   YORK 


249 


500,000  people  to  the  square  mile,  a  density  the  highest  accurately  known 
in  the  world.  The  linest  residence  district  lies  on  both  sides  of  Central 
Park  and  along  the  ridge  in  the  upper  half  of  Manhattan.  To  prepare 
such  a  surface  for  occupation  by  a  modern  city  has  involved  great  labor  and 
expense.  The  grading  of  streets  and  lots  means  the  blasting  and  removal 
of  huge  masses  of  rock,  some  of  which  is  used  in  building.  The  result  has 
been  worth  the  cost,  and  for  a  residence  district  upper  Manhattan  presents 
one  of  the  finest  sites  in  the  world.  It  is  solidly  built  over,  largely  with 
apartment  houses  of  seven 
or  more  stories,  each  hous- 
ing a  score  or  more  of 
families  (Fig.  134).  The 
Bronx,  Brooklyn,  and 
many  suburban  towns 
within  fifty  miles  in  all 
directions  are  made  up 
chiefly  of  homes  for  people 
whose  business  is  on  Man- 
hattan. 

Circulation  of  People 
and  Goods.  —  The 
narrow  and  crowded 
condition  of  lower 
Manhattan,  hemmed 
in  by  wide  and  deep 
waterways,  renders  the 
problem  of  "  rapid  transit  "  pecuUarly  diflficult.  The  million 
or  more  of  people  who  do  business  there  every  day  have  their 
homes  elsewhere.  For  the  passage  of  these  streams  of  humanity 
surface  cars  and  omnibuses  have  long  been  inadequate.  Rail- 
roads elevated  upon  steel  trestles  form  an  upper  story  on  many 
streets,  and  subways  blasted  out  of  the  rock  beneath  traverse 
the  length  of  the  island  and  are  connected  by  tunnels  with 
Brooklyn  and  the  Bronx.  Local  and  express  trains  are  run 
through  them  upon  four  tracks  and  carry  more  than  a  million 
passengers  a  day.     The  East  River  is  spanned  by  four  bridges, 


Fig.  134.  —  An  apartment  house,  Riverside  Drive,  New 
York. 


250  TFIK    KASrilRN    SIATliS:    (TI'IKS 

but  the  iludson,  nearly  a  mile  wide  and  50  feet  deej),  has  not  been 
bridged.     Both  rivers  are  crossed  by  many  ferryboats. 

Natural  barriers  render  Manhattan  almost  inaccessible  by 
railroads,  and  until  recently  only  two  lines  reached  it,  the  New 
\\)rk  Central  and  the  New  York,  New  Haven,  and  Hartford. 
The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Co.  has  spent  $50,000,000  in  con- 
structing a  double  tunnel  from  New  Jersey  under  the  Palisades, 
the  Hudson  River,  Manhattan,  and  the  East  River  to  Long 
Island,  with  an  immense  station  in  the  heart  of  New  York. 
This  company  is  now  expending  another  $50,000,000  in  bridges 
across  the  East  River,  to  connect  Long  Island  with  the  New 
England  railroad  systems.  The  serious  difficulties  encountered 
in  building  a  commercial  metropolis  upon  such  a  site  as  that  of 
New  York  have  called  for  the  exercise  of  the  highest  engineering 
skill  and  have  given  the  city  a  unique  character,  in  many  respects 
unrivaled  for  magnificence  and  beauty.  That  the  difficulties 
have  been  overcome  and  even  turned  to  advantage  may  be 
accounted  for  by  the  facilities  which  the  site  affords  for  the  busi- 
ness of  a  seaport.  These  lie  in  the  deep,  roomy,  and  protected 
harbor  and  the  interlocking  of  bays,  straits,  and  islands,  giving 
340  miles  of  shore  line  along  which  docks  may  be  built. 

Public  Works.  —  Streets.  —  In  the  oldest  pari  of  the  city  the  streets  have 
little  uniformity  of  plan,  but  in  the  rest  of  Manhattan  they  are  laid  out  with 
mathematical  regularity.  The  longitudinal  avenues  are  spaced  to  give  six 
blocks  to  the  mile,  and  the  cross  streets  to  give  20  blocks  to  the  mile.  The 
avenues,  with  a  few  exceptions,  are  numbered  from  east  to  west  and  the 
streets  from  south  to  north.  Broadway,  originally  a  country  road,  extends 
the  whole  length  of  the  island,  following  approximately  the  crest  of  the 
ridge.  In  the  lower  half  of  its  course  it  cuts  obliquely  across  the  streets  and 
avenues.  Above  Central  Park  it  lies  near  the  Hudson  and  widens  into  a 
handsome  boulevard.  Of  almost  equal  importance  is  Fifth  Avenue,  which 
extends  midway  of  the  island  in  a  straight  line  for  seven  miles.  The  four 
bridges,  14  tunnels  under  the  rivers,  and  the  105  miles  of  subway  are 
essential  parts  of  the  street  system. 

Parks.  — -  Of  the  many  parks  and  squares  the  most  famous  is  Central 
Park,  two  and  a  half  miles  long  by  one  half  mile  wide  near  the  center  of 


NEW   YORK 


251 


Fig.  135.  —  The  lower  end  of  Manhattan  Island,  New  York.  The  Hudson  River  is 
on  the  left;  the  East  River  with  bridges  on  the  right.  Notice  the  docks  and  the 
skyscrapers. 

Manhattan.  Its  naturally  irregular  surface,  slightly  modified  by  art,  is 
about  one  half  wooded,  and  contains  lawns,  walks,  drives,  reservoirs,  and 
several  small  lakes.  In  the  Bronx,  a  system  of  large  parks,  connected  by 
parkways  400  to  600  feet  wide,  includes  about  4000  acres.  Bronx  Park  is 
occupied  by  the  largest  Botanical  and  Zoological  Gardens  in  the  world. 
Brooklyn  has  a  system  of  beautiful  parks  comprising  more  than  1000  acres. 


Buildings.  —  Some  of  the  largest  and  most  imposing  buildings 
of  the  world  stand  upon  Manhattan  Island.  In  contrast  with 
the  famous  buildings  of  the  old  world,  they  are  not  temples, 
cathedrals,  palaces,  or  parliament  houses,  but  business  buildings, 
designed  and  erected  for  economic  purposes  (Fig.  135).  Among 
these  the  Woolworth,  Singer,  Metropolitan,  and  Equitable  build- 
ings are  the  tallest,  the  stations  of  the  Pennsylvania  and  New 
York  Central  railroads,  the  new  Post  Ofhce,  the  Hudson  Termi- 
nal accommodating  10,000  ofhce  tenants,  the  Public  Library,  the 
Custom  House,  and  the  Municipal  Building  are  the  largest  and 
most  imposing.  Columbia  University  and  the  College  of  the 
City  of  New  York  occupy  commanding  heights  with  buildings 


252  THE    EASTERN   STATES:   CITIES 

worthy  of  their  site,  and  New  York  University  stands  upon  a 
similar  site  in  the  Bronx. 

Water  Supply.  —  Excellent  water  is  obtained  from  the  Croton  River 
through  an  aqueduct  about  40  miles  long,  but  the  supply  is  becoming  in- 
adequate. An  aqueduct  85  miles  long  to  bring  water  from  reservoirs  in  the 
Catskill  Mountains  is  now  under  construction  at  a  cost  of  $177,000,000. 
One  of  the  largest  and  most  important  of  public  works  is  the  maintenance 
of  docks  which  now  utilize  about  50  miles  of  water  front. 

Commerce  and  Manufacture.  —  The  accessibility  of  New  York 
by  land  and  sea,  and  its  unparalleled  facilities  for  transferring 
goods,  bring  the  port  more  shipping  than  comes  to  any  other  in 
the  world  and  nearly  one  half  the  total  foreign  commerce  of  the 
United  States.  Generally  there  is  an  excess  of  imports  over  ex- 
ports, made  up  in  part  of  articles  of  luxury,  furs,  laces,  gloves, 
diamonds,  and  works  of  art.  It  is  the  chief  port  of  entry  for 
sugar,  coffee,  cocoa,  spices,  silk,  rubber,  and  hides.  Exports  of 
grain,  flour,  chemicals,  copper,  machinery,  and  coal  oil  are  es- 
pecially heavy.  There  is  always  an  immense  stock  and  variety 
of  goods  in  store.  Almost  anything  can  be  bought  there  and 
it  is  the  principal  wholesale  market  for  dry  goods  and  groceries 
in  America. 

Raw  materials,  labor  supply,  and  market  combine  to  make 
New  York  the  leading  manufacturing  city  of  the  country,  its 
products  amounting  to  14  per  cent  of  the  total.  Almost  every 
thing  is  made,  but  one  quarter  of  the  value  of  the  output  is  in 
clothing  and  printed  matter.  In  the  refining  of  sugar  and  petro- 
leum it  leads  all  other  cities,  but  no  statistics  are  available.  It 
stands  first  in  the  clothing,  printing,  and  tobacco  industries, 
second  in  foundry  and  lumber  products,  and  third  in  slaughtering 
and  meat  packing. 

As  a  financial  center  it  is  no  less  important.  The  concentration  of  capital 
is  enormous  and  its  banks  and  trust  companies  are  the  richest  and  most 
powerful  in  America.     The  Stock  Exchange,  the  Produce  Exchange,  and 


NEW   YORK  253 

the  Cotton  Exchange  control  the  markets,  and  in  the  Clearing  House  all  the 
banks  of  the  United  States  settle  their  daily  balances. 

In  literature,  New  York  is  the  home  of  the  principal  publishing  houses  of 
books,  magazines,  and  newspapers.  About  900  periodicals  are  printed  in 
twenty  languages. 

Population.  —  It  took  New  York  about  150  years  to  grow  from 
a  village  of  1000  inhabitants  to  a  city  of  100,000  in  1810.  Fifty 
years  later  it  had  a  population  of  1,000,000,  and  in  thirty  years 
more  nearly  5,000,000.  The  population  Of  the  metropolitan 
district  is  now  about  7,500,000,  exceeding  that  of  London.  Its 
growth  has  been  fed  largely  by  immigration.  Nearly  all  the 
foreigners  who  come  to  the  United  States  land  at  New  York, 
and  a  large  proportion  stay  there.  Nearly  80  per  cent  of  the 
population  are  foreign  born  or  of  foreign  parentage.  Of  these, 
Russians  (mostly  Jews)  are  the  most  numerous.  The  Germans, 
Irish,  and  Italians  each  number  nearly  as  many,  and  the  four 
nationalities  together  make  up  two  thirds  of  the  foreign  element. 
There  are  but  two  cities  in  Germany  containing  more  Germans 
than  New  York,  only  one  city  in  Italy  containing  more  Italians, 
and  the  Irish  number  one  eighth  as  many  as  there  are  in  Ireland. 

There  is  a  strong  tendency  for  those  of  each  nationality  to  crowd  together 
into  one  neighborhood,  thus  forming  a  foreign  community,  preserving  its 
own  language,  religion,  and  customs.  The  housing,  employment,  and  ed- 
ucation of  such  a  mass  of  people,  who  are  poor  and  ignorant  of  the  language 
and  institutions  of  the  country,  present  the  most  difhcult  problems  of  muni- 
cipal management.  The  public  school  system  is  an  effective  means  for 
converting  the  parents  as  well  as  the  children  into  good  Americans.  The 
total  expenditures  for  free  public  schools  amount  to  $40,000,000  annually. 
About  one  third  of  the  working  population  are  employed  in  trade  and  trans- 
portation and  one  third  in  manufacturing  and  mechanical  arts.  The 
average  number  of  families  to  each  dwelling  is  three. 

Summary.  —  New  York  does  not  owe  anything,  as  London 
does,  to  political  influence.  It  has  not  behind  it  a  thousand 
years  or  more  of  history,  as  have  most  of  the  great  cities  of  the 
world.     It  is  the  product  of  economic  conditions  and  forces,  and 


254  THE    EASTKKN    STATES:    CITIES 

the  natural  result  of  the  exploitation  of  the  resources  of  a  new 
and  rich  land.  The  foundations  of  its  greatness  lie  in  the  Middle 
West,  of  which  it  is  the  financial  center  and  principal  seaport.  A 
unique  combination  of  physical  features,  the  interlocking  arms 
of  land  and  sea  at  the  mouth  of  a  gap  leading  to  the  greatest  of 
inland  waterways,  is  here  the  direct  cause  of  a  marvelous  con- 
centration of  people  and  wealth.  The  assessed  valuation  of 
real  estate,  land,  and  buildings  only  in  the  City  of  New  York  is 
about  8000  million  dollars,  a  sum  larger  than  the  total  valuation 
of  all  the  property  in  the  Pacific  division  of  the  United  States. 
About  $180,000,000  are  expended  annually  in  new  buildings. 

Boston.  —  The  position  of  Boston  in  relation  to  the  sea  is 
slightly  more  favorable  than  that  of  New  York,  but  in  relation 
to  the  land  it  is  decidedly  less  favorable.  It  is  about  200  miles 
nearer  to  European  ports,  but  its  immediate  hinterland  is  suffi- 
ciently hilly  and  rough  to  make  communication  with  the  Great 
Lakes  and  the  Middle  West  difficult.  No  navigable  inlet  like  the 
Hudson  River  or  open  gap  like  the  Mohawk  valley  leads  from  the 
interior  to  Boston.  Two  railroads  built  to  connect  the  city  with 
the  Hudson-Mohawk  thoroughfare  fail  to  divert  any  large  share 
of  traffic.  Consequently  Boston  can  be  httle  more  than  the 
metropolis  and  commercial  center  of  New  England. 

Site.  —  The  site  of  Boston  resembles  that  of  New  York  on 
a  much  smaller  scale.  It  stands  at  the  head  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  upon  islands  and  peninsulas  between  the  drowned  valleys 
of  several  small  streams.  The  old  city  occupies  the  Shawmut 
peninsula,  originally  a  pear-shaped  eminence  attached  to  the 
mainland  by  a  narrow  neck  often  swept  by  the  tide.  The  land 
was  irregular  in  relief  and  outline,  and  large  sums  have  been 
expended  in  grading  down  the  hills  and  filling  the  coves.  The 
original  area  of  780  acres  has  been  enlarged  to  1830  acres,  the 
surface  of  which  slopes  gently  from  the  summit  of  Beacon  Hill 
to  the  water  front.  Charlestown  Neck,  a  high  peninsula  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Charles  River,  an  island  at  the  mouth  of  the 


BOSTON 


255 


Mystic  River,  a  third  peninsula  on  the  south,  and  annexed 
territories  on  the  mainland  comprise  about  40  square  miles. 
The  metropolitan  district  extends  about  ten  miles  in  all  directions 
from  Beacon  Hill,  and  includes  Cambridge,  Brookline,  Somer- 
ville,  and  other  suburban  towns  (Fig.  136).  The  harbor, 
partly  closed  by  sand  spits,  is  about  eight  miles  across  and 
studded  with  many  islands. 
The  ship  channel,  naturally 
crooked  and  difficult,  has 
been  improved  and  marked 
by  buoys  and  lighthouses. 


Fig.  136.  —  Boston  and  vicinity. 


Business  District.  —  The  en- 
larged Shawmut  peninsula,  now 
nearly  circular  in  outline  and 
about  one  mile  across,  is  almost 
entirely  devoted  to  commerce  and 
public  affairs.  The  streets,  said 
to  have  been  originally  cow-paths, 
are    still    narrow    and    irregular. 

After  a  great  fire  in  1872  they  were  widened  and  straightened  and  now 
somewhat  resemble  in  plan  a  spider's  web.  On  the  highest  point  near  the 
center  stands  the  Statehouse,  from  which  streets  radiate  in  many  directions. 
Atlantic  Avenue  runs  around  the  water  front,  which  is  bordered  on  the 
harbor  side  by  extensive  docks.  Washington  and  Tremont  streets  are 
the  principal  thoroughfares.  Charlestown,  the  island  of  East  Boston,  and 
the  peninsula  of  South  Boston  are  also  provided  with  docks  and  are  largely 
devoted  to  commerce  and  manufacture. 

Residence  Districts.  —  The  finest  residence  district,  called  the  Back  Bay, 
has  been  made  by  filling  the  shallows  of  Charles  River.  The  streets  are 
laid  out  in  regular  rectangles,  the  central  Commonwealth  Avenue  being  a 
parkway  240  feet  wide.  Most  of  the  better  residences  are  in  the  suburban 
districts.  The  foreign  quarter  occupies  Chelsea  and  other  districts  north 
of  the  harbor. 

Public  Works.  —  Boston  was  one  of  the  first  cities  to  construct 
an  extensive  subway.  It  is  about  three  miles  long,  extending 
from  the  Common  under  the  business  district  and  the  harbor 


256 


THE   EASTERN   STATES:   CITIES 


to  East  Boston.  There  arc  two  large  railway  stations  near  the 
business  center.  Boston  Common,  on  the  south  slope  of  Beacon 
Hill,  was  at  first  a  cow  pasture,  and  has  been  public  land  for  nearly 
300  years.  It  is  now  a  wooded  park  of  48  acres.  Adjoining  it 
are  the  Public  Gardens,  devoted  to  flower  beds  and  other  orna- 
mental works.  These  are  connected  through  Commonwealth 
Avenue  with  a  unique  system  of  outer  parks  in  two  concentric 
rings,  the  inner  comprising  2300  acres  and  the  outer  10,000  acres. 
A  bridge  to  Cambridge  includes  a  dam  in  the  Charles  River  which 
converts  it  into  a  fresh-water  basin  for  boating.  Public  water 
supply  is  obtained  from  reservoirs  fed  by  several  small  streams. 

The  greatly  enlarged  Statehouse  occupies  a  conspicuous  position  on 
the  summit  of  Beacon  Hill.  Its  gilded  dome  and  the  shaft  of  Bunker  Hill 
Monument  in  Charlestown  serve  as  landmarks  and  guides  for  the  traveler  in 
the  bewildering  streets  of  the  old  city.  Among  many  objects  of  historic 
interest  are  three  old  burial  grounds  maintained  in  the  heart  of  the  city 
where  land  is  of  the  highest  value;  the  Old  South  Church,  now  a  historical 


Fig.  1J7.  —  Commercial  district,  Boston.     Faneuil  Hall  in  the  l:iackgroun(l. 


PHILADELPHIA  257 

museum ;  the  old  Stalchousc  ;  and  Fancuil  Hall,  called  "  the  Cradle  of  Ameri- 
can Liberty"  (Fig.  137).  In  the  Back  Bay  district  the  new  Old  South 
Church,  Trinity  Church,  the  Public  Library,  and  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts 
are  noted  specimens  of  architecture.  In  Cambridge  are  the  extensive  grounds 
and  buildings  of  Harvard  University  and  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology.  Wellesley  College  for  women  is  located  in  the  suburb  of 
Wellesley. 

Commerce  and  Manufacture.  —  Under  the  competition  of  New 
York,  Portland,  and  Montreal,  the  commerce  of  Boston  has 
relatively  dechned  and  become  secondary  to  manufacturing,  in 
which  the  metropolitan  district  ranks  fourth  among  eastern 
cities.  Among  the  distinctive  industries  are  boots  and  shoes, 
printing,  leather,  clothing,  textiles,  electrical  machinery,  sugar 
refining,  pianos,  organs,  and  shipbuilding.  The  United  States 
maintains  a  well  equipped  navy  yard  at  Charlestown.  In 
foreign  commerce  the  tonnage  is  third  among  eastern  ports, 
being  about  one  sixth  that  of  New  York.  The  leading  imports 
are  fibers,  wool,  hides,  cotton,  sugar,  coal,  and  leather.  In  the 
export  of  cattle,  meats,  and  dairy  products  Boston  is  second 
only  to  New  York. 

Population.  —  The  population  of  Boston  in  1910  was  670,585,  and  of  the 
metropoHtan  district  1,520,470,  the  fourth  in  the  United  States.  In  the 
city  the  foreign  population  is  nearly  three  fourths.  Of  these  31  per  cent 
are  Irish  and  14  per  cent  are  French  Canadian.  There  are  on  an  average 
two  families  to  each  dwelling. 

Philadelphia. — -"The  City  of  Brotherly  Love,"  90  miles 
south  of  New  York,  and  previous  to  the  opening  of  the  Erie 
Canal  the  metropolis  of  America,  shares  with  that  city  many 
advantages  of  sea  and  land.  It  is  the  third  city  and  second 
seaport  of  the  United  States,  with  a  foreign  tonnage  a  httle 
larger  than  that  of  Boston.  In  contrast  with  New  York  and 
Boston,  it  is  100  miles  from  the  sea  on  the  tidal  Delaware 
River  at  the  mouth  of  the  Schuylkill,  but  is  accessible  by  the 
largest  vessels. 


258 


'Jill':  i:.\sri:RN  s'i\ri;s:  iirii;s 


Site.  — The  ground  111)011  which  Philadelphia  stands  rises  from 
tide  level  at  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers  to  a  hilly  tract  on  the 
north,  a  distance  of  about  16  miles.  The  surface  is  level  or 
gently  rolling  and  there  are  no  natural  barriers  to  expansion  or  to 
easy  access  and  communication.  The  plan  of  the  city  is  through- 
out extremely  regular  (Fig.  138). 

The  Delaware  River  front  of  about  20  miles  is  largely  occupied  by  docks, 
freight  terminals,  factories,  and  wholesale  houses.     The  principal  holds, 

stores,  banks,  office  buildings  and 


railway  stations  are  near  the  City 
Hall  (Fig.  139).  In  the  same 
neighborhood  are  many  fine  resi- 
dential streets.  The  picturesque 
suburbs  on  the  north  and  west  are 
occupied  by  beautiful  villas  of 
recent  construction.  There  is  a 
small  congested  tenement  district 
in  the  southeast.  The  greater  part 
of  the  city  consists  of  street  after 
street  of  plain,  two  or  three  story 
brick  houses,  each  occupied  by  a 
single  family.  On  account  of  the 
level,  open,  and  unobstructed  site, 
the  business  and  residential  dis- 
tricts are  less  distinct  than  in 
other  large  cities,  and  the  number  of  residences  nearly  equals  the  num- 
ber of  families. 

Public  Works.  —  Fairmount  Park  extends  along  the  Schuylkill  and  one 
of  its  tributaries  eleven  miles  and  comprises  3500  acres.  The  park  contains 
many  historic  mansions,  statues,  and  monuments  of  art.  The  City  Hall  is 
one  of  the  largest  buildings  in  the  world,  covering  a  space  of  four  and  one 
half  acres.  The  city  was  the  first  capital  of  the  United  States  and  contains  a 
larger  number  of  historic  buildings  than  any  other.  Among  them  are  In- 
dependence Hall,  now  a  historical  museum,  where  the  Continental  Congress 
met  and  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  written ;  Congress  Hall,  in 
which  Washington  was  inaugurated;  and  Carpenter's  Hall,  in  which  the 
First  Continental  Congress  met.  Philadelphia  has  an  unusual  number  of 
schools,  learned  societies,  libraries,  and  museums,  including  the  University  of 


I IG    1^(5  — Phil  iflLlphia  and  \Kinitv 


PHILADELPHIA  259 

Pennsylvania,  Girard  College,  and  Jefferson  Medical  College.     Bryn  Mawr, 
a  leading  college  for  women,  is  a  few  miles  outside  the  city. 

Manufacture  and  Commerce.  —  Philadelphia  has  always  been 
one  of  the  greatest  manufacturing  centers  of  the  United  States, 
and  the  metropolitan  district  ranks  next  after  New  York  and 
Chicago.     It  stands  first  in  the  manufacture  of  carpets  and  rugs, 


Fig.  139.  —  Broad  Street,  Philadelphia.     City  Hall  in  the  distance. 

second  in  that  of  woolens,  worsteds,  hosiery,  felt  hats,  and  leather, 
and  third  in  clothing,  foundry  products,  and  printing.  Other 
large  industries  are  cotton  goods,  iron  and  steel,  malt  liquors, 
and  chemicals.  It  is  the  seat  of  large  petroleum  and  sugar 
refineries,  the  Baldwin  Locomotive  Works,  and  the  Cramp  ship- 
yards, where  steel  vessels  and  warships  are  built.  The  United 
States  maintains  a  large  navy  yard  at  League  Island  below  the 
city. 


26o  THK    KASTKRN    STATES  :    CITIES 

The  (lock  line  extends  about  lo  miles  alonj;  the  Dehiware  River, and  there 
are  many  reguhir  steamship  hnes  to  Eurojje  and  the  West  Indies.  In  forcij^n 
tonnage  it  is  the  second  seaport  ot"  the  United  States,  with  a  total  nearly  one 
fifth  that  of  New  York  ;  hut  in  total  value  of  exports  and  imports  it  is  sur- 
passed by  Boston.  The  principal  imports  are  raw  sugar,  chemicals,  goat- 
skins, wool,  and  hides,  and  the  principal  exports  are  iron  and  steel,  petroleum, 
wheat,  and  cattle.  Its  inland  communications  are  by  the  Pennsylvania 
and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  systems,  by  which  it  is  closely  connected  with 
the  Pittsburgh  iron  district.  Its  distance  by  rail  from  Chicago  and  Lake 
Erie  is  about  the  same  as  that  of  New  York,  but  the  grades  and  curves  are 
more  difficult.  The  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  connects  the  city 
with  the  anthracite  region. 

Population.  —  The  population  of  Philadelphia  in  igio  was  1,549,008  and 
of  the  metropolitan  district  1,972,342.  In  the  city  57  per  cent  are  of  foreign 
parentage,  of  which  nearly  one  fourth  are  Irish. 

Summary.  —  There  can  be  no  better  example  of  the  influence 
of  natural  features  upon  the  development  of  cities  than  a  compari- 
son of  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  Previous  to  1830,  Phila- 
delphia was  the  metropolis  and  principal  seaport  of  America. 
In  position  and  distance  from  Europe,  the  Middle  West,  and  the 
coal  fields,  neither  city  had  any  considerable  advantage  over 
the  other.  The  site  of  Philadelphia  for  city  construction  was  far 
superior,  but  its  restricted  harbor  accommodations  and  the  lack 
of  a  gap  through  the  mountains  behind  it  were  fatal  to  its  com- 
mercial supremacy. 

Baltimore.  —  In  being  an  inland  seaport  Baltimore  re- 
sembles Philadelphia.  It  stands  near  the  head  of  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  170  miles  from  the  sea  and  has  an  excellent  harbor 
in  the  drowned  valley  of  the  small  Patapsco  River  and  its 
branches. 

Site  and  Plan.  —  The  ground  on  which  Baltimore  is  built 
presents  a  pleasing  variety  of  relief  not  too  rough  for  successful 
improvement.  The  city  is  compact,  covering  an  area  about  five 
by  six  miles.  The  shipping,  manufacturing,  and  business  dis- 
tricts lie  in  the  southeast  near  the  harbor,  the  better  residence 
districts  in  the  northwest  (Fig.  140). 


BALTIMORE 


261 


The  business  center  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  1904,  and  the  new  buildings, 
restricted  to  a  height  of  185  feet,  are  mostly  of  three  or  four  stories.  The 
parks  and  squares,  of  which  Druid  Hill  is  the  largest,  aggregate  about  2300 
acres.  The  first  monument  in  the  country  in  honor  of  George  Washington, 
erected  in  181 5-1829,  and  the  Battle  Monument,  erected  about  the  same 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


Fig.  140.  —  Baltimore  and  vicinity. 

time  in  memory  of  those  killed  in  defense  of  the  city  against  the  British, 
have  given  to  Baltimore  the  name  of  "  the  Monumental  City."  It  is  the 
seat  of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  the  foremost  graduate  school  in  the  United 
States. 

Commerce  and  Manufacture.  —  The  foreign  tonnage  of  Balti- 
more is  growling  more  rapidly  than  that  of  any  other  eastern 
seaport,  and  its  commerce  is  approaching  in  value  that  of  Phila- 

ELEM.    ECON.    GEOG. — l6 


262 


THE   EASTERN  STATES:   CITIES 


delphia.  Its  western  gateway  is  the  Potomac  valley,  traversed 
by  the  Baltimore  ami  Ohio  Railroad.  The  fruit  l)clt  of  the  Coastal 
Plain  and  the  oyster  beds  of  Chesapeake  Bay  are  in  its  immediate 
tributary  area  and  give  rise  to  a  large  canning  industry.  It 
stands  next  to  New  York  and  Chicago  in  the  manufacture  of 
men's  clothing.  Copper,  tin  })late,  sheet  iron,  meats,  tobacco, 
brick,  and  fertilizers  rank  high  among  its  products. 

Population.  —  While  Baltimore  is  the  seventh  city  in  the  United  States, 
the  district  with  658,715  stands  eighth  in  population  and  tenth  in  value  of 
manufactures.     The  foreign  element  is  less  than  40  per  cent. 

Pittsburgh.  —  The  chief  iron  and  steel  center  of  the  United 
States,  and  one  of  the  greatest  in  the  world,  has  its  economic 

basis  in  a  seam  of  coal  16 
feet  thick  which  outcrops 
along  the  Monongahela 
River  for  about  100  miles. 
The  occurrence  of  coal  and 
ore  near  the  confluence 
of  two  rivers  forming  the 
Ohio  established  the  iron 
industry  there  about  100 
years  ago.  The  nearness 
of  Pittsburgh  to  Lake  Erie 
ports,  only  125  miles  distant,  enabled  the  industries  already 
established  to  avail  themselves  of  the  Lake  Superior  ores  and  to 
expand  to  dimensions  which  the  home  supply  could  not  support. 
To  these  resources  were  added  timber,  petroleum,  and  natural  gas. 
Site.  —  The  industrial  city  extends  along  the  three  rivers 
more  than  20  miles  with  a  center  at  their  confluence  called  "  The 
Point"  (Figs.  141,  142).  The  valleys  are  narrow  and  bordered 
by  steep  bluffs.  The  residential  districts  are  on  the  plateau 
between  them.  Surrounded  by  a  belt  of  furnaces  and  fac- 
tories, it  has  won  the  title  of  "  the  Smoky  City." 


Fig.  141.  —  Pittsburgh. 


PITTSBURGH 


263 


Fig.  142. 


■'The  Point,"  Pittsburgh.     Notice  barges  loaded  with  coal  and  pushed  by 
steamers. 


There  are  four  parks,  comprising  about  1200  acres.  The  most  notable 
institution  is  the  Carnegie  Institute  in  Schenley  Park,  established  by  a 
gift  from  Andrew  Carnegie  of  $19,000,000.  It  includes  a  library,  art  gallery, 
music  hall,  scientific  museum,  the  largest  botanical  conservatory  in  America, 
and  various  technical  schools.  Associated  with  it  are  the  Allegheny  Ob- 
servatory and  schools  of  mining,  engineering,  law,  medicine,  pharmacy, 
and  dentistry,  the  whole  constituting  the  University  of  Pittsburgh. 

Commerce  and  Manufacture.  —  The  rivers  are  of  more  im- 
portance to  Pittsburgh  than  to  any  other  inland  city.  They  have 
been  improved  by  locks  and  dams,  and  are  used  for  the  transpor- 
tation of  coal,  steel  rails,  and  other  heavy  freight,  amounting  to 
about  9  million  tons  a  year,  or  two  thirds  of  the  total  tonnage 
of  the  Mississippi  River  system.  A  ship  canal  to  connect  Pitts- 
burgh with  Lake  Erie  is  projected  and  would  be  of  great  service. 
It  is  on  one  of  the  two  great  lines  of  transportation  between  the 
Middle  West  and  the  Eastern  States,  and  is  the  most  important 
midway  station  on  the  Pennsylvania  and  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 


264 


THE   EASTKRN   STATES  :    CITIES 


railroad  systems.  The  freight  yards  have  a  capacity  of  60,000 
cars  and  the  freight  handled  amounts  to  150  million  tons  a  year. 
In  value  of  manufactures  the  metropolitan  district  stands  fourth 
in  the  United  States,  and  in  iron  and  steel  products  stands 
first.  The  establishment  of  the  industry  at  Gary  in  the  Chicago 
district  and  other  centers  has  diminished  the  relative  importance 
of  Pittsburgh,  but  it  still  produces  22  per  cent  of  the  pig  iron, 
and  24  per  cent  of  the  steel  made  in  the  United  States.  It  con- 
tains the  principal  plants  of  the  United  States  Steel  Corpo- 
ration.    Other    important   products    are    castings,    machinery, 

cars,    tin    plate,    and 

glass. 

Population.  —  The  pop- 
ulation of  the  city  in  19 10 
was  533,905  and  of  the 
district  1,042,855,  the  fifth 
in  the  United  States. 
The  foreign  element 
in  the  city  amounted  to  62 
per  cent  and  included 
considerable  numbers  of 
nearly  every  European 
nationality. 

Buffalo.  —  The  city 
at  the  point  where 
the  waterway  of  the 
Great  Lakes  and  the 
Mohawk-Hudson 
route  meet  holds  a 
position  of  great  ad- 
vantage. The  falls  of 
Niagara,  20  miles  be- 
low Buffalo,  prevent  most  of  the  lake  traffic  from  continuing  by 
water  to  Lake  Ontario  and  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  furnish  the 
city  with  the  largest  and  cheapest  water  power  in  the  world. 


Fig.  143.  —  Buffalo  and  vicinity. 


BUFFALO 


265 


Site  and  Plan.  —  Buffalo  occupies  an  area  extending  from 
Buffalo  Creek  along  the  Erie  and  Niagara  shore  about  ten  miles 
and  rising  gradually  from  the  water  to  a  height  of  80  feet. 
Numerous  streets  radiating  from  the  business  center  near  the  lake 
front  give  direct  access  to  all  quarters  of  the  city.  The  main 
streets  are  unusually  broad  and  in  the  residence  district  are  lined 


Fig.  144.  —  Unloading  wheat  from  a  lake  steamer  into  an  elevator,  Bufialo. 


with  noble  trees.     The  park  system  of  about  1000  acres  encircles 
the  city. 

Commerce  and  Manufacture.  —  Buffalo  is  connected  by  steam- 
ship lines  with  all  the  lake  ports,  and  its  tonnage  (14,500,000)  is 
greater  than  that  of  any  other  port  on  Lake  Erie.  The  harbor 
is  protected  by  a  series  of  breakwaters  and  provided  with  ten 
miles  of  piers  and  wharfs.  It  is  the  lake  terminus  of  the  Erie 
Barge  Canal  and  is  connected  with  the  Atlantic  seaports  by  the 
New  York  Central,  Lehigh  Valley,  Lackawanna,  and  Erie  railroad 


266 


Tin-;  i;asti:rn  stati:s  :  cities 


systems,  and  with  Chicago  by  the  Lake  Shore,  Michigan  Central, 
Nickel  Plate,  Wabash,  and  Grand  Trunk  systems.  It  is  the  most 
important  way  station  on  the  northern  east-west  route.  It  is 
a  distributing  center  for  the  manufactured  products  of  the 
Eastern  States  and  the  foodstuffs  and  raw  materials  of  the  Middle 
West,  which  are  here  transferred  from  lake  to  canal  boat  or  car. 
Its  grain  elevators  (Fig.  144)  have  a  capacity  of  20  million 
bushels  and  it  is  one  of  the  principal  markets  for  wheat,  flour, 
cattle,  hogs,  horses,  fish,  lumber,  and  coal.  Its  foreign  trade, 
chiefly  with  Canada,  amounts  to  about  $50,000,000  a  year. 

The  Buffalo  district  includes  the  manufacturing  plants  at  Niagara  Falls 
and  the  blast  furnaces  and  steel  mills  at  Lackawanna,  where  water  transpor- 
tation for  ore  and  the  short  haul  for  coal  from  Pennsylvania,  make  it  possible 
to  produce  iron  and  steel  at  less  cost  than  at  any  other  plant  in  the  Eastern 
States.  The  city  is  supplied  with  light  and  power  by  electric  current  from 
Niagara,  which  is  used  in  a  great  variety  of  industries.  Meats,  foundry 
products,  flour,  automobiles,  lumber,  and  soap  make  up  about  one  half 
the  total  value  of  manufactures.  Other  important  establishments  are  pe- 
troleum refineries,  ship  yards,  copper  smelters,  and  car  works. 

Population.  —  The  population 
of  the  Buffalo  district  in  1910  was 
488,661.  Excellent  drainage,  pure 
water  from  the  Niagara  River,  the 
use  of  electric  power  which  does 
away  with  "  the  smoke  nuisance," 
wide  streets,  and  abundance  of  trees 
render  Buffalo  one  of  the  most 
attractive  and  healthful  of  cities. 

Washington.  — A  city  which 
owes  nothing  to  industry  or 
commerce,  but  is  devoted 
wholly  to  governmental  pur- 
poses, is  an  economic  product 
only  in  the  highest  sense  of 
the  term.  Washington  was  arbitrarily  located  by  Congress  and 
designed  solely  as  the  Federal  capital  (Fig.  145).     It  occupies  the 


Fig.  145.  —  Washington,  D.C. 


SUMMARY 


267 


Fig.  146. 


Washington,  D.C.     The  Capitol  and  the  Library  of  Congress  in  the  middle 
distance. 


whole  area  (60  square  miles)  of  the  District  of  Columbia  at  the 
head  of  navigation  on  the  Potomac  River.  Except  for  low 
grounds  along  the  river,  the  site  is  hilly  and  picturesque.  The 
Capitol  (Fig.  146)  and  the  presidential  mansion,  or  "  White 
House,"  occupy  commanding  heights  about  a  mile  apart.  Radiat- 
ing from  these  centers,  diagonal  avenues,  named  after  the  states, 
intersect  in  every  direction  the  regular  pattern  of  streets,  fur- 
nishing many  opportunities  for  small  parks.  The  streets  and 
avenues  are  80  to  160  feet  wide  and  with  parks  and  public 
grounds  occupy  one  half  the  area  of  the  city.  These  features, 
combined  with  the  large  number  of  public  buildings  and  monu- 
ments, which  are  among  the  most  beautiful  and  imposing  in  the 
world,  make  Washington  "  a  city  of  magnificent  distances," 
unique  in  America.  Its  population  of  331,000  is  made  up 
mostly  of  government  officials  and  employees.' 

Summary.  —  Superior  facilities  for  manufacture  and  commerce 
make  the  Eastern  States  the    only  region    in  America    which 


268  THR   EASTERN  STATES:   CITIES 

resembles  the  countries  of  western  Europe  in  density  of  popula- 
tion, number  of  great  cities,  and  concentration  of  wealth. 

Economic  Rank.  —  The  Eastern  States,  considered  as  an 
economic  unit,  belong  to  the  third  type  of  complex  societies 
(p.  92)  which  import  most  of  their  foodstuffs  and  raw  materials, 
and  export  manufactures. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What   are  the  economic   effects   of   the  existence  of  the   Hudson- 
Mohawk  gap? 

2.  Why  is  the  seaport  on  the  Hudson  River  located  at  its  mouth  instead 
of  near  the  head  of  tidewater,  as  on  the  Delaware  and  Chesapeake  ? 

3.  What  are  the  natural  advantages  of  the  site  of  New  York  for  a 
seaport  ?     What  disadvantages  had  to  be  overcome  ? 

4.  Of  what  use  are  parks  in  a  city  ? 

5.  What  natural  conditions  have  prevented  Boston  from  being  as  large 
as  New  York? 

6.  Steamers  leaving  Philadelphia  fill  their  boilers  with  water  from  the 
river.     Sometimes  it  is  found  to  be  salt  and  unfit  for  use.     Explain. 

7.  Why  are  the  people  of  Philadelphia  better  housed  than  the  people 
of  New  York  ? 

8.  Why  has  Baltimore  a  much  smaller  proportion  of  foreign  population 
than  New  York  or  Boston  ?     Is  that  an  advantage  ? 

9.  What  natural  conditions  have   made  Pittsburgh  the  leading  iron 
manufacturing  city  of  America?  the  second  or  third  in  the  world? 

10.  What  natural  conditions  favor  the  growth  of  Buffalo  beyond  that  of 
any  other  lake  port  except  Chicago  ? 


CHAPTER  XXI 
THE    SOUTHERN    STATES 

Boundaries.  —  The  southern  part  of  the  Atlantic  division  of 
the  United  States  constitutes  a  well-marked  economic  region, 
distinguished  by  relief,  chmate,  products,  and  occupations. 
The  northern  boundary  of  this  region  does  not  coincide  with  the 
historic  line  separating  the  former  slave  or  Confederate  States, 
commonly  called  "  The  South,"  from  "  The  North."  The  states 
of  the  northern  tier  are  in  a  transition  belt  and  have  been  included 
in  the  Middle  West  and  Eastern  States.  The  limits  of  the  eco- 
nomic region  are  fixed  by  the  long,  hot  summers  and  short,  mild 
winters  of  the  warm,  temperate  zone ;  more  precisely  by  the 
northern  limit  of  seven  months  without  frost  (Figs.  30,  35).  The 
fact  that  the  cotton  belt  is  confined  to  this  region  is  a  better  indi- 
cation of  its  chmate  than  average  temperatures.  The  natural 
boundary  on  the  west  is  formed  by  the  rainfall  line  of  20  inches, 
the  contour  line  of  2000  feet,  and  the  margin  of  the  steppe, 
which  approximately  coincide  along  the  looth  meridian  (Figs. 
29,  33,  147).  About  15  per  cent  of  the  total  area  of  the  Southern 
States,  in  western  Texas  and  Oklahoma,  belongs  naturally  with 
the  Interior  States.  The  other  boundaries  are  the  Rio  Grande, 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean. 

The  region  comprises  the  states  of  North  Carolina,  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Texas,  Oklahoma,  Arkansas,  and  Tennessee.  These  correspond 
to  tlie  South  Atlantic,  East  South  Central,  and  West  South 
Central  groups  of  the  Census  Bureau,  except  the  northern 
transition  states,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  West  Virginia, 

269 


TlNCOLNrt 


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05'^  Lonpritude 


270 


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Fig.  147. 

SOUTHERN  STATES 


■Key  West: 


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SCALE  OF   MILES 


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J7I 


272  TIIH   SOU  ri HORN    STATES 

and  Kentucky.  The  area  is  26  per  cent  of  the  United  Slates 
(exclucUng  the  western  i)hileau  region,  2^  i)er  cent)  and  the 
population  is  nearly  24  per  cent.  Its  economy  is  preeminently 
agricultural,  nearly  60  per  cent  of  all  employed  persons  being  at 
work  upon  the  land.  'Ilie  only  large  food  crop  is  corn.  Cotton 
constitutes  one  half  the  total  value  of  agricultural  products, 
99  per  cent  of  the  crop  of  the  United  States,  and  63  per  cent 
of  the  world's  crop.  The  region  might  well  be  called  the 
cotton  ])elt.     (See  Figs.  36,  37  ;  Table  III,  Appendix.) 

Relief.  —  The  physical  features  of  the  Eastern  States  described 
on  page  183  extend  far  into  the  Southern  States.  The  Coastal 
Plain  (Fig.  33)  occupies  more  than  one  half  the  surface,  rising  from 
the  ocean  waters  to  a  height  of  500  feet  at  its  inner  border. 
From  Virginia  to  Alabama  it  is  from  150  to  200  miles  wide.  A 
part  of  it,  called  the  Mississippi  Embayment,  projects  northward 
from  the  Gulf  to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  and  includes  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  half  of  Alabama  and  Arkansas,  and  a  portion  of 
Tennessee.  The  coastal  plain  of  Texas  is  about  200  miles  wide. 
Along  the  coast  a  belt  of  shallow  sounds,  lagoons,  islands,  and 
marshes  extends  from  Chesapeake  Bay  to  the  Rio  Grande. 
The  general  surface  of  the  plain  is  smooth,  flat,  or  slightly  un- 
dulating, and  slopes  gently  toward  the  sea.  It  is  crossed  by 
many  parallel  streams  which  have  cut  wide  and  shallow  valleys. 
It  is  underlaid  by  strata  of  soft  sands,  silts,  and  clays,  the  waste 
of  the  old  Appalachian  Mountains  deposited  on  the  sea  bottom. 
It  has  only  recently  been  elevated  above  the  sea  and  is  the 
newest  land  in  North  America. 

The  Fall  Line.  —  The  inland  border  of  the  Coastal  Plain  is  marked  by  a 
low  but  rather  abrupt  rise  to  the  Piedmont  Plateau.  As  the  streams  cross  it 
from  the  plateau  to  the  plain,  they  descend  by  falls  or  rapids.  Above  this 
line  the  valleys  are  narrow  and  rocky,  below  it  wide  and  sandy.  In  the  larger 
rivers  it  is  the  head  of  tidewater  and  navigation.  The  presence  of  water 
power  at  these  points  and  the  transfer  of  goods  from  water  to  land  carriage 
have  determined  the  sites  of  Raleigh,  Columbia,  Augusta,  Macon,  Columbus, 
and  Montgomery  (Figs,  ^i,  147). 


THE   ALLUVIAL   VALLEY   OF   THE  MISSISSIPPI  273 

The  Piedmont  Plateau.  —  This  low,  worn-down  plateau  ex- 
tending from  the  Hudson  River  to  central  Alabama  occupies 
about  seven  per  cent  of  the  Southern  States.  It  is  broadly 
undulating  and  diversified  by  low,  rounded  knobs  and  ridges, 
and  deep,  narrow  valleys.  It  is  sharply  distinguished  from  the 
Coastal  Plain  by  its  red  clay  and  gravel  soils  produced  by  the 
weathering  of  the  underlying  granite,  gneiss,  and  other  crystalline 
rocks. 

The  Appalachian  Mountains  and  Plateau.- —  In  western  North 
Carohna,  eastern  Tennessee,  and  northern  Georgia,  the  Blue 
Ridge  (p.  37)  expands  to  a  width  of  75  miles  and  rises  to  the 
highest  elevation  in  eastern  United  States.  Mt.  Mitchell  is  67 11 
feet  above  the  sea  and  a  score  of  peaks  rise  above  6000  feet. 
The  Great  Appalachian  valley,  about  50  miles  wide,  drained  by 
the  Tennessee  and  Coosa  rivers,  lies  between  the  Blue  Ridge 
and  the  Cumberland  Plateau.  These  highlands  decline  west- 
ward and  southward  to  central  Tennessee  and  Alabama,  where 
they  disappear  beneath  the  sediments  of  the  Coastal  Plain. 

The  Ozark  Highlands.  —  Northwestern  Arkansas  and  southern  Missouri 
are  occupied  by  the  low  Ozark  Plateau.  South  of  the  Arkansas  River  a  belt 
of  low  mountain  ridges  extends  westward  from  central  Arkansas  through 
Oklahoma.  There  are  a  few  summits  above  2000  feet.  The  whole  group 
stands  like  an  island  in  the  midst  of  the  plains  and  repeats  on  a  small  scale 
the  features  of  the  Appalachians. 

The  Great  or  High  Plains.  —  More  than  half  of  Texas  is  occupied  by  the 
southern  portion  of  the  Great  Plains  Plateau  which  will  be  more  fully  de- 
scribed in  connection  with  the  Interior  States  (p.  305).  This  plateau,  which 
is  in  part  above  2000  feet,  is  generally  smooth  and  bordered  by  steep  bluffs. 

The  Alluvial  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.  —  Through  the  middle 
of  the  Gulf  Coastal  Plain  the  alluvial  valley  of  the  Mississippi 
extends  600  miles.  It  is  a  low,  level  tract,  25  to  80  miles  wide, 
bounded  by  bluffs  and  covered  by  the  river  at  times  of  high  water. 
In  the  natural  state  of  the  river,  the  flood  waters  spread  out  over 
the  valley  floor,  leaving  a  thin  layer  of  soil.     Such  lands  are  ex- 


274  'flU'^   SOUTHERN   STATES 

ccc(lin<i;ly  iirc)(lucli\-c,  but  (litlkult  to  ocxupy  and  utilize.  The 
Federal  and  state  governments  have  spent  nian\'  millions  of 
dollars  in  const ructing  levees  or  embankments  of  earth  b\'  which 
about  three  fourths  of  the  valley  is  now  i)rotected  from  Hoods. 
It  is  traversed  by  many  bayous,  or  side  channels  of  the  ri\'er,  and 
much  of  it  is  swampy.  The  banks  of  the  streams  are  higher  than 
the  land  farther  away  and  furnish  sites  for  most  of  the  houses 
and  towns. 

The  Peninsula  of  Florida.  —  Florida  differs  from  the  rest  of  the  Coastal 
Plain  in  being  underlaid  by  limestone.  The  fiat  surface,  mostly  less  than 
loo  feet  above  the  sea,  is  dotted  with  innumerable  sloughs,  ponds,  shallow 
lakes,  and  swamps,  among  which  the  largest  are  Lake  Okechobee  and 
the  Everglades.  The  surface  streams  are  very  irregular  and  a  large  part 
of  the  drainage  is  underground  through  passages  dissolved  out  of  the  lime- 
stone. 

Drainage.  —  The  rivers  of  the  Coastal  Plain  do  not  unite  into 
systems  but  flow  from  the  interior  highlands  by  independent 
parallel  courses  to  the  sea.  The  lower  Mississippi  has  an  exceed- 
ingly crooked  channel  through  the  alluvial  plain,  flowing  more 
than  looo  miles  to  reach  the  Gulf.  Its  principal  eastern  tribu- 
tary is  the  Tennessee,  which  drains  the  great  valley  from  Virginia 
to  Alabama  and  there  turns  abruptly  northward  to  the  Ohio. 
On  the  west  the  Arkansas  and  Red  rivers  bring  water  from  the 
High  Plains  and  Rocky  Mountains. 

Coast  Line.  —  The  coasts  of  the  Southern  States  are  every- 
where low  and  generally  bordered  by  lagoons  and  barrier  beaches 
(p.  1 88).  There  are  many  shallow  sounds  and  inlets  at  the  river 
mouths  but  no  deep  estuaries.  The  Mississippi  has  built  at  its 
mouth  one  of  the  largest  deltas  in  the  world,  from  which  it  escapes 
through  a  cluster  of  forked  channels  called  "  passes  "  (Fig.  165). 
There  are  no  harbors  naturally  accessible  by  the  largest  vessels, 
but  the  harbors  at  Charleston,  Savannah,  Mobile,  Galveston, 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  have  been  deepened  to  admit 
them.     Ports  for  small  coastwise  shipping  are  numerous. 


SUMMARY  275 

Climate.  —  While  the  average  temperature  of  the  coldest  month 
is  above  freezing  (Fig.  31),  the  northwest  winds  from  the  interior 
of  the  continent  in  winter  carry  cold  waves  with  frost,  snow, 
and  occasional  zero  temperatures  to  the  Gulf  and  Atlantic  coasts. 
Only  the  Florida  Peninsula  and  the  extreme  south  of  Texas 
are  safe  from  them.  The  growing  season  is  from  seven  to  ten 
months  (Fig.  30).  The  extreme  summer  temperatures  are 'not 
so  high  as  in  the  northern  and  Interior  States.  The  rainfall 
ranges  from  20  inches  in  the  west  to  more  than  60  inches  on  the 
east  Gulf  coast  and  the  high  mountains.  It  is  generally  above 
40  inches  and  is  well  distributed  throughout  the  year. 

Vegetation.  —  The  dry,  sandy  uplands  of  the  Coastal  Plain 
were  originally  covered  by  a  forest  of  long-leaf  and  pitch  pine  while 
the  swamps  were  occupied  by  cypress,  which  flourishes  in  standing 
water.  The  plateaus  and  mountain  slopes  bore  a  dense  forest 
of  hardwood  timber,  oak,  hickory,  chestnut,  walnut,  tulip, 
basswood,  and  poplar  mixed  on  the  highest  elevations  with 
spruce  and  hemlock.  In  Texas  the  wet  lands  are  grassy  prairies 
and  savannas  separated  by  tracts  of  pine  forest,  the  boundaries 
being  irregular  and  shifting.  From  Louisiana  eastward  the  coast 
is  bordered  by  a  strip  of  evergreen,  broad-leaved  forest  containing 
live  oak  and  magnolia.  In  southern  Florida  this  passes  into  a 
subtropical  vegetation  of  palms,  palmetto,  and  mangrove. 
The  Everglades  are  mostly  covered  with  sawgrass. 

Health  and  Pleasure  Resorts.  —  The  climate  and  scenery  of  the  southern 
Appalachians  are  delightful  and  attract  many  summer  visitors,  for  whom 
Asheville,  N.C.,  is  the  principal  center.  The  east  coast  of  Florida  is  Hned 
with  hundreds  of  winter  resorts,  many  of  which  contain  palatial  hotels 
for  the  entertainment  of  wealthy  northern  visitors.  The  genial  and 
equable  climate  of  Florida  on  the  edge  of  the  trade  winds  and  beyond  the 
reach  of  cyclonic  changes  of  weather,  permits  outdoor  life  at  all  seasons 
and  attracts  thousands  of  transient  and  permanent  residents  in  search  of 
health  or  pleasure. 

Summary.  —  In  relief  the  Southern  States  combine  the  wide 
plains  characteristic  of  the  Middle  West  with  the  rugged  high- 


276  THE   SOUTHERN  STATES 

lands  of  the  Eastern  States.  The  soils  are  j^'enerally  inferior  to 
the  glacial  soils  of  the  north.  The  highlands  ])rovide  timber, 
minerals,  and  water  power.  The  coast  line  favors  marine  com- 
merce. The  most  important  natural  economic  factor  is  the  mild 
climate  with  abundant  rainfall. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Which  is  most  nearly  uniform  in  relief,  the  Middle  West,  the  Eastern 
States,  or  the  Southern  States?     (Sec  Fig.  ^■^.) 

2.  What  are  the  advantages  of  uniform  relief?  the  disadvantages? 

3.  What  part  of  the  eastern  half  of  the  United  States  has  the  most  equable 
climate  ? 

4.  Which  tends  to  make  people  more  energetic,  an  equable  or  a  variable 
climate  ? 

5.  How  does  the  coast  line  of  the  Southern  States  differ  from  that  of  the 
Eastern  States?     Why  is  one  more  favorable  for  commerce  than  the  other? 

6.  Of  what  value  to  the  Southern  States  is  the  Appalachian  Highland? 

7.  To  what  are  the  extent  and  variety  of  forests  in  the  Southern  States 
due? 

8.  Why  are  the  banks  of  the  rivers  and  bayous  higher  than  the  rest  of  the 
Mississippi  flood  plain  ? 

g.  Why  do  the  people  living  on  the  flood  plain  use  boats  instead  of 
carriages  and  wagons  ? 

10.  How  has  the  Mississippi  delta  been  made  ?     Is  it  still  growing  ? 


CHAPTER   XXII 


THE   SOUTHERN    STATES:    AGRICULTURE 


Cotton.  —  The  Southern  States  grow  about  two  thirds  of  all 
the  cotton  used  in  the  world,  and  thus  contribute  a  large  share 
to  the  clothing  of  all  mankind.  The  distribution  of  the  raw 
cotton  and  the  goods  made 
from  it  gives  rise  to  more 
commerce  than  that  of  any 
other  article  except  food- 
stuffs. Its  manufacture  into 
cloth  and  garments  is  one  of 
the  world's  great  industries 
(Chap.  XII).  The  cotton 
plant  is  a  small  bush  whose 
seeds  are  enveloped  in  a  ball 
of  white  hairs  or  libers 
adapted  to  protect  them 
while  growing  and  to  favor  their  being  sown  broadcast  by 
the  wind  when  ripe.  At  maturity  the  pod  bursts  open,  and 
the  seed  and  fibers  are  set  free  (Fig.  148).  To  ripen  seeds  the 
■plant  requires  a  growing  season  of  seven  months,  continuously 
warm  but  not  hot,  and  with  a  good  but  not  excessive  rainfall. 
In  very  hot  and  wet  climates  the  plant  will  live  for  years,  but 
its  production  of  seeds  and  fiber  is  small.  Consequently,  it  is 
more  profitable  in  the  warm  temperate  than  in  the  tropical  zones. 

History.  —  Centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  cotton  was  used  in  India, 
which  was  long  the  chief  center  of  production.  Columbus  found  it  growing 
wild  in  the  West  Indies,  whence  it  was  brought  to  the  Southern  States  at  an 

277 


Fig.  148.  —  Cotton  bolls. 


2/8 


I'lll-;    SOUTHKRN    STATKS:     AdRICULTURK 


early  period  in  ihcir  history.  After  tiic  introduction  of  negro  labor  and  the 
invention  of  the  gin  (p.  214)  it  became  the  most  profitable  of  crops  and  the 
economic  "  king  "  of  America.  The  pine  forests  were  cleared  and  planted, 
and  after  a  few  crops  the  land  was  abandoned  and  a  new  piece  cleared. 
This  one-crop  system  was  very  profitable  as  long  as  land  and  slave  labor  were 
cheap  and  plentiful,  but  it  will  take  the  cotton  states  a  long  time  to  recover 
from  such  a  wasteful  and  ruinous  method  of  agriculture.         . 

Culture.  -  "  Tliere  are  several  varieties  of  the  plant,  of  which 
the  sea-island  cotton,  grown  along  the  coast  of  South  Carolina 


■   / 

1 

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w 

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i 

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1 

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1 

1 

f 

PBmK^I^ 

Mm 

9^1 

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B^^ipig^ 

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8^B 

^^PH 

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■I^V^I^si^lE 

Sfifl 

^M 

m 

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wS^^.'... 

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fe^^?^^^PIS 

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s 

Fig.  149.  —  Part  of  a  cotton  field  at  picking  time  in  Louisiana. 

and  Georgia,  produces  the  longest  and  silkiest  liber.  Most  of 
the  crop  is  known  as  upland  cotton.  The  seed  is  planted  in 
March  and  April  in  rows  which  are  afterwards  thinned  out  to 
give  each  plant  the  space  needed  according  to  the  soil  and  ex- 
pected growth.  The  crop  is  cultivated  with  plow  and  hoe  like 
corn  until  the  plants  are  four  or  five  feet  high  and  covered  with 


COTTON    SEED  279 

blossoms  resembling  a  small  hollyhock.  The  pods  begin  to 
ripen  in  August  and  continue  until  frost.  The  fiber  and  seeds  arc 
picked  from  the  pod  generally  by  hand  (Fig.  149).  The  work  is 
light  and  can  be  done  by  women  and  children,  but  the  necessity 
of  going  over  the  field  several  times  increases  the  cost  of  picking 
and  limits  the  acreage  that  can  be  harvested.  Cotton-picking 
machines  which  blow  the  cotton  into  a  sack  by  a  blast  of  air  hav'e 
been  tried,  but  are  not  yet  in  common  use.  The  cotton  is  hauled 
by  wagon  to  the  gin,  where  the  seeds  are  separated  and  the  lint 
is  compressed  into  bales  weighing  about  500  pounds.  One  half 
bale  to  the  acre  is  an  average  yield. 

System.  — The  cotton  planter  is  always  sure  of  a  fair  market  for  his 
crop,  and  as  soon  as  it  is  baled  it  is  good  for  cash.  Most  of  the  planters, 
especially  the  negroes,  have  little  or  no  capital  and  it  is  customary  to  rent 
ten  or  twenty  acres,  according  to  the  number  of  working  members  in  the 
family,  and  to  mortgage  the  crop,  before  it  is  planted,  to  a  banker  or  merchant 
who  supplies  the  planter  with  the  tools,  clothing,  and  food  needed  until  the 
crop  is  sold.  The  more  enterprising  and  thrifty  planters  acquire  capital, 
buy  land,  and  become  independent.  Little  else  than  cotton  is  raised,  and 
mules,  hay,  corn,  pork,  and  butter  are  imported.  The  boll  weevil,  an  insect 
which  has  recently  appeared  in  Texas,  destroying  the  crop  by  boring  through 
the  green  pod,  may  prove  a  blessing  in  disguise.  It  encourages  the  raising 
of  corn  and  cattle,  for  which  the  region  is  well  adapted,  and  tends  to  break  up 
a  bad  system  of  one-crop  farming. 

Cotton  is  raised  in  almost  every  county  of  the  Southern  States 
(Fig.  150),  but  the  most  productive  soils  are  the  prairies  of  Texas, 
the  alluvial  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  upper  coastal  plain 
of  Alabama.  Texas  produces  one  fourth  of  the  crop,  and  Ala- 
bama and  Georgia  one  fourth  (Fig.  151).  The  total  crop  in  good 
years  amounts  to  15  million  bales,  more  than  half  of  which  is  ex- 
ported. There  is  enough  suitable  land  in  the  cotton  states  to 
multiply  the  acreage  by  ten. 

Cotton  Seed.  —  The  seed  of  the  cotton  plant,  formerly  thrown 
away  or  used  to  fertilize  the  fields,  is  now  worth  as  much  as  wheat. 
It  is  ground  and  pressed  to  extract  the  oil,  which  is  used  for 


28o 


THE   SOUTHERN   STATES:    AGRICULTURE 


making  soap  and  as  a  suhstilutc  for 
lard  and  olive  oil  in  human  food. 
The  cake  from  which  the  oil  has 
been  pressed  is  fed  to  dairy  cows 
and  is  as  good  as  corn  for  fattening 
cattle. 


Cotton  growing  area. 
One  ctot=tOOO  bates 


Fig.  150.  —  Distribution  of  cotton  and  cotton  manufacture  in  the  United  States. 

World's  Cotton  Crop.  —  The  monsoon  countries  of  Asia,  India,  and 
China  stand  next  to  the  United  States  in  the  production  of  cotton.  It  is 
also  grown  in  small  areas  in  Persia,  Turkestan,  Turkey,  and  the  Mediter- 


16.102.000 


UNITED  STATES.. 

Texas  

Georgia 

Alabama 

South  Carolina 
Oklahoma 

Mississippi 

Arkansas 

North  Carolina 
All  others 


Fig.  151.  —  Production  of  cotton  (1914),  by  states,  in  millions  of  bales. 

ranean  countries.  In  the  Nile  valley  the  yield  per  acre  is  twice  as  much 
as  in  any  other  country  and  of  excellent  quality.  A  little  is  raised  in  Peru 
and  Brazil.  European  countries  are  making  special  efforts  to  increase  the 
cotton  crop  of  their  tropical  colonies  and  dependencies. 


RICE 


2«I 


Rice.  Rice,  in  its  j2;eiu'ral  a])j)earaiici\  resembles  oats,  l)ul 
llirives  only  in  warm  regions  of  heavy  summer  rainfall.  In 
southeastern  Asia  the  monsoon  winds  bring  the  rains  necessary 
for  the  growth  of  the  crop,  which  is  the  staff  of  Hfe  for  nearly  half 
the  human  race.  There  are  varieties  which  grow  on  dry  uplands, 
but  dense  populations  can  be  supported  only  by  lowland  rice, 
which  requires  irrigation  and  flooding. 

The  fields  must  be  leveled  to  secure  uniform  depth  of  water.  On  the 
flood  plains  of  rivers  this  is  comparatively  easy,  but  hill  slopes  must  be 
terraced  at  a  great  outlay  of  labor.  The  seeds  are  sprouted  in  beds,  trans- 
planted to  the  fields,  and  flooded  with  water  (Fig.  152),  which  must  be  kept 
in  gentle  motion,  drawn  off  at  intervals  during  growth,  and  finally  before 
the  crop  ripens.  This  work  is  done  largely  by  hand,  including  in  many  cases 
carrying  the  water  in  buckets.  The  cutting,  drying,  and  thrashing  of  the 
grain  is  done  with  the  simplest  tools  and  without  the  use  of  animal  power. 
The  husk,  which  fits  the  grain  closely  and  preserves  it  indefinitely,  is  loosened 
by  pounding  the  portion  used  each  day.  Rice  is  not  ground  to  make  bread, 
but  the  whole  grains  are  boiled  and  eaten  with  spices  and  fruit.  This,  with 
peas  and  beans,  which  take  the  place  of  meat,  constitutes  the  food  supply  of 
hundreds  of  millions  of  people.  To  provide  it  by  these  primitive  methods 
is  one  of  the  greatest  achievements  of  human  diligence.     The  rice  crop  of  the 


,""< 


.«      « 


Fig.  152   —  Flooded  rice  field,  Louisiana. 
ELEM.    ECON.    GEOG.—  17 


282  THF.    S()l"nii:RN    STATKS:    AdKICUI/rURE 

world,  ;il)()Ut   175,000  million  pounds,  is  (omparaMc  willi  llial  of  wheat  or 
corn.     India,  China,  and  Japan  prcxkuc  So  per  cent. 

Rice  in  the  Southern  States.  -  Rice  has  been  grown  along 
the  seacoast  and  river  valle\s  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia 
from  an  early  period,  but  recently  this  industry  has  been  under- 
taken on  a  large  scale  in  Louisiana,  Texas,  and  Arkansas.  The 
Oriental  methods  suited  to  slave  labor  have  been  superseded  by 
the  use  of  modern  machinery.  Water  is  supplied  by  steam 
pumps,  the  ground  is  plowed  and  harrowed  by  teams,  and  the 
grain  is  reaped  and  thrashed  by  machines,  similar  to  those  used 
for  wheat.  An  American  farmer  with  machinery  can  raise  fifty 
times  as  much  rice  as  a  Chinese  farmer  by  hand  labor.  For  use 
in  this  country  the  grain  after  it  is  hulled  must  be  "  polished  " 
by  a  special  machine.  The  crop  of  about  700  million  pounds  is 
used  for  desserts  and  side  dishes  and  is  not  sufhcient  to  supply 
the  home  market.     The  acreage  could  easily  be  doubled. 

Other  Cereals.  —  The  corn  crop  of  the  Southern  States  is 
important  and  increasing  (Figs.  40,  42).  Corn  is  the  chief  food 
product,  and  is  used  directly  for  bread  to  a  larger  extent  than 
in  the  Middle  West.  Wheat  (Figs.  44,  46)  and  oats  are  of  im- 
portance only  in  Oklahoma  and  central  Texas,  where  the  rainfall 
is  similar  to  that  of  the  northern  grain  states. 

Fruits.  —  Peaches,  melons,  strawberries,  and  other  small 
fruits  are  extensively  grown  in  the  Southern  States  for  northern 
markets.  Oranges,  formerly  imported  from  Sicily  and  the 
Mediterranean  countries,  are  now  supplied  in  abundance  from 
Florida  and  Cahfornia  and  are  about  as  cheap  as  good  apples. 
Pineapples  and  bananas  are  grown  to  a  limited  extent  in  the 
United  States,  but  are  imported  largely  from  the  West  Indies 
and  Hawaii.  Bananas,  probably  the  most  prolific  of  tropical 
fruits  and  perhaps  of  food  crops,  are  brought  from  Jamaica  and 
Central  America  in  such  quantities  as  to  be  the  cheapest  fruit 
and  perhaps  the  cheapest  food  in  the  markets  of  America. 
The  most  recent  addition  to  the  list  of  tropical  fruits  is  the  shad- 


CANE  SUGAR 


283 


dock,  commonly  called  grapefruit,  in  which  Florida  at  first  had 
almost  a  monopoly,  but  is  now  suffering  from  the  competition 
of  Porto  Rico. 


Fig.  153.  — Harvesting  sugar  cane,  Louisiana. 


Cane  Sugar.  —  Once  a  rare  luxury,  sugar  has  become  a  common 
necessity  of  civilized  life.  Until  about  a  century  ago,  the  only 
commercial  source  was  the  sugar  cane,  a  tall  grass  resembling 
corn  and  growing  in  all  moist,  tropical  lowlands.  Its  great 
rival,  the  sugar  beet,  is  a  newcomer  among  the  resources  of  the 
temperate  zone  and  will  be  discussed  later  (p.  323).  Sugar  cane 
lands  occur  in  all  countries  between  the  parallels  of  30°  north  and 
south  latitude,  but  the  largest  producers  are  India,  Java,  Cuba, 
and  Hawaii.  On  account  of  limitations  of  climate  and  soil  the 
only  important  cane  sugar  territory  in  the  United  States  is  in 
Louisiana  and  Texas.  Even  there  the  cane  must  be  replanted 
every  year,  while  in  the  West  Indies  ten  or  twenty  crops  can  be 
cut  from  one  planting.  The  sugar  plantations  are  all  on  the  flood 
plain  within  a  fev/  miles  of  the  Mississippi  and  Red  rivers  or 
some  of  their  numerous  bayous. 


284 


Till':   SOUTIIKKX    STATKS:    A(;R1CULTURK 


The  canes  are  planted  in  furrows,  stalks  sprcnil  up  from  every  joint,  and 
after  eight  months'  growth  are  ready  for  cutting.  The  labor  is  heavy  and 
can  be  done  only  by  strong  men.  The  crop  of  15  or  20  tons  to  the  acre  is 
hauled  to  the  mill  by  wagons  (Fig.  153),  or  on  large  plantations  by  movable 
railways.  The  cane  is  crushed  between  steel  rollers  and  the  juice  is  evap- 
orated in  a  series  of  steam  heated  tanks  and  pans  until  the  sugar  crystallizes. 

Sugar  growing  requires  large  capital.  The  machinery  of  the  mill  is  costly 
and  at  least  1000  acres  of  cane  are  necessary  to  run  it  profitably.  The  home 
product  of  about  300,000  tons  is  less  than  one  sixth  of  the  quantity  im- 
ported from  Cuba,  Java,  Hawaii,  and  Porto  Rico.  The  raw  or  brown 
sugar  produced  at  the  mills  is  sent  to  refineries  at  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Boston,  Baltimore,  New  Orleans,  and  San  Francisco,  where  it  is  dissolved  in 
hot  water,  filtered,  purified,  and  evaporated  to  make  granulated  and  loaf 
sugar.  The  consumption  of  sugar  in  the  United  States  equals  about 
65  pounds  a  year  for  each  person. 

Tobacco.  —  The  tobacco  of  Virginia  and  Maryland  was  the  first 
and  for  a  long  time  the  most  valuable  article  of  foreign  com- 
merce produced  by 
the  American  colo- 
nies. Although  it  is 
now  grown  in  patches 
in  every  state  from 
Louisiana  to  Wiscon- 
sin and  Massachu- 
setts, the  bulk  of  the 
crop  is  concentrated 
in  the  transition  belt 
between  the  northern 
and  southern  regions 
(Fig.  154).  The  lead- 
ing states  vary  in  rank 
in  different  years,  but 
the  usual  order  is 
Kentucky,  North  Carolina,  Virginia  (Fig.  155).  The  Middle 
West  produces  more  than  half  the  quantity  but  only  about 
40   per    cent   of   the  value.     The   Eastern   and   the   Southern 


Fig.  154.  —  Distribution  of  tobacco  in  tfie  United  States. 


TOBACCO 


285 


States  share  about  equally  in  the  remainder. 
pound  and  per  acre  is  highest  in  Connecticut. 


The  value  per 


"UNITED  STATES 


Lbs.  1,034,679,000 
$101,411,000 

400 


10  20 

I  Amount  in  pounds 


30  40 

Value  in  dollars 


Fig. 


Production  of  tobacco  (1Q14),  by  states,  in  millions  of  pounds,  and  millions 
of  dollars. 


Tobacco  for  market  is  profitable  under  the  same  conditions  that  are  best 
for  corn.  The  minute  seeds  are  sown  in  sprouting  beds  and  transplanted  to 
the  field.  Thorough  cultivation  and  constant  care  in  removing  worms 
which  eat  the  leaves  and  stem  are  necessary.  Before  frost  comes  the  stalks 
with  the  leaves  attached  are  cut  and  hung  in  open  sheds  to  dry.  After 
removal  of  the  stems  the  leaves  are  packed  in  bundles  and  subjected  to  a 
curing  or  sweating  process  which  has  much  to  do  with  determining  their 
flavor  and  value.  The  plant  is  very  sensitive  to  conditions  of  climate  and 
soil  while  growing,  and  of  heat  and  moisture  in  curing.  Tobacco  is  very 
exhausting  to  the  soil  and  requires  heavy  fertilization.  In  tending,  har- 
vesting, curing,  and  packing  much  hand  labor  adds  to  the  expense  of  the 
crop,  but  a  yield  of  1000  pounds  to  the  acre  may  be  worth  ten  times  as  much 
as  an  acre  of  corn  or  cotton.  The  Connecticut  valley  is  famous  for  the  pro- 
duction of  t  he  thin  leaves  required  for  cigar  wrappers.  The  field  is  sometimes 
covered  with  cotton  cloth  to  protect  the  plants  from  the  sun  and  insects,  and 
to  regulate  temperature  and  humidity  (Fig.  156). 

The  United  States  produces  about  looo  million  pounds  of 
tobacco,  which  is    nearly   40   per    cent    of    the    world's    crop. 


286 


THE   SOUTHKRN   STATKS  :    AdRlCULTUKK 


Louisville,  Ky.,  Richmond  and  Pclcrshurf,',  Va.,  and  Durham  and 
Winston-Salem,  N.C,  arc  <!;rcat  markets  and  centers  of  manu- 


I'KJ.  150.  -     'I'ohacco  grywiiig  unilcr  lidlli. 

facture.  About  half  the  home  crop  is  exported,  and  the  imports 
from  Cuba,  Sumatra,  and  the  Philippines  amount  to  two  thirds  as 
much.  Large  factories  for  making  Havana  cigars  from  Cuban 
tobacco  have  been  established  at  Key  West  and  Tampa,  Fla. 

The  use  of  tobacco  is  almost  coextensive  with  the  human  race  and  is 
rapidly  increasing.  The  plant  has  a  very  wide  range  and  grows  in  all  coun- 
tries between  30°  S.  and  45°  N.  India,  Russia,  Austria-Hungary,  and  the 
East  Indies  rank  next  in  production  after  the  United  States. 

Live  Stock.  —  The  Southern  States  rank  next  to  the  Middle 
West  in  the  raising  of  cattle  and  swine,  and  might  increase  that 
industry  to  advantage  (Fig.  157).  Their  fodder  resources  include 
corn,  cottonseed  meal  and  cake,  peanuts,  and  cassava,  a  root 
recently  introduced  from  South  America.  Increased  food  pro- 
duction, both  vegetable  and  animal,  would  be  a  means  of  salva- 
tion from  the  ruinous  effects  upon  the  soil  of  the  long-continued 
one-crop  system  of  cotton  growing.  The  land  and  climate  are 
adapted  to  a  diversified  agriculture,  which  would  in  the  end  in- 


LIVI':    STOCK 


287 


crease  the  production  of  cotton  itself  and  bring  greater  intelli- 
gence and  prosperity  to  the  people.     A  noticeable  feature  in  the 


Fig.  157.  —  Part  of  a  herd  of  100,000  cattle,  Oklahoma. 

Southern  States  is  the  extent  to  which  mules,  on  account  of  their 
endurance  of  heat,  take  the  place  of  horses.  Three  fourths  of  all 
the  mules  in  the  United  States  live  south  of  the  3Qth  parallel  and 


PER  CENT 

30  40  50 


80  90         100 


UNITED  STATES 9. 

Rice 

Cotton 

Mules 

Neat  cattle 

Swine 

Oranges 

Corn 

Tobacco 

All  crops 

All  animal  products 

All  farm  products 

.Farm  property 

Improved  land 

6  10         20         30         40         50         60         7'0         80         90        100 

Fig.  158.  —  Rank  of  Southern  States  in  farms  and  farm  products.     (Table  III,  .Appendix.) 

two  thirds  of  them  south  of  the  37th.     Texas  raises  more  beef 
cattle  than  any  other  state  in  the  Union,  partly  on  the  ranges  in 


288  Till',  soutiii;rn  statks:   A(ikici:i.ruRi; 

the  arid  western  plateaus  and  parti}-  in  tlie  corn  lands  of  the 
east. 

Summary.  —  The  agricultural  resources  of  the  Southern  States 
are  second  only  to  those  of  the  Middle  West.  (See  Fig.  158.) 
The  large  cotton  crop  may  be  increased,  and  corn,  cattle,  fruit, 
and  garden  truck,  ec^ual  to  the  cotton  in  value,  may  be  produced. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  How  is  the  field  culture  of  cotton,  now  prevalent,  a  higher  type  of 
economy  than  the  former  plantation  culture? 

2.  Which  is  of  more  value  to  mankind,  cotton  or  corn?  rice  or  wheat? 
sugar  or  tobacco? 

3.  What  is  the  effect  of  a  one-crop  system  of  agriculture  on  the  soil? 

4.  Under  a  one-crop  system  what  is  the  effect  of  crop  failure  due  to  a 
bad  season  or  to  insect  pests? 

5.  How  does  a  great  European  war  affect  the  people  of  the  Southern 
States?  of  the  Eastern  States? 

6.  Why  do  not  the  people  of  the  Southern  States  use  rice  so  extensively 
as  the  people  of  other  warm  temperate  countries? 

7.  Why  are  strawberries  plentiful  in  the  markets  of  the  northern  states 
from  May  to  July  ? 

8.  How  does  the  place  held  by  bananas  in  the  economy  of  the  United 
States  differ  from  that  in  the  South  Sea  Islands  (p.  20)  ? 

9.  Is  sugar  a  healthful  food  or  an  injurious  luxury? 

10.  Is  the  extensive  and  increasing  use  of  tobacco  helpful  or  harmful  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States? 


CHAPTER   XXIII 


THE    SOUTHERN    STATES:    MINERALS,    FORESTS, 
MANUFACTURES,   COMMERCE,   AND    CITIES 

Minerals.  —  The  Southern  States  possess  less  wealth  in  mineral 
resources  than  the  other  regions  of  the  United  States.  Coal  and 
metaUic  ores  usually  occur  in  rocks  much  older  than  those  of  the 
Coastal  Plain.  There 
are  oil  wells  and  mines 
of  salt  and  sulphur 
in  Louisiana,  and 
Florida  is  the  princi- 
pal source  of  phos- 
phate rock,  from 
which  fertilizer  is 
made  (p.  76).  The 
remarkable  petroleum 
fields  of  Texas  are 
verv    rich    but   small 


Fig.  isq.  —  Derricks  (if  oil  wells,  Texas. 


(Fig.  159).  Productive  wells  occur  on  the  surface  of  low,  gently 
sloping  mounds,  which  represent  bulges  in  the  older  rocks  under- 
lying the  coastal  sediments.  The  development  of  the  oil  fields  of 
Oklahoma  has  recently  placed  that  state  at  the  head  of  the  South- 
ern States  in  total  value  of  mineral  products  and  of  the  United 
States  in  petroleum  production.  The  mineral  field  of  the  Appa- 
lachian Highland  extends  into  the  region,  and  at  its  southern  end 
in  Alabama,  coal,  iron  ore,  and  limestone  occur  together,  making  it 
possible  to  manufacture  pig  iron  at  Birmingham  at  less  cost  than 
anywhere  else  in  the  world.     The  ore  is  not  of  the  best  quality, 

289 


290 


THi-:  SOUTH i:r\  stati;s  :  j-okksts 


and  the  iron  is  not  used  for  making  Bessemer  steel.  Coal  is 
mined  outside  the  Coastal  Plain  in  other  states,  but  the  quantity 
in  all  does  not  equal  that  in  Alabama.  Tennessee  is  notable  for 
copper   mines,    and   rivals   Vermont    in    quarrying    ornamental 

marbles.  The  South- 
ern States  produce 
36  per  cent  of  the 
petroleum,  7  per  cent 
of  the  pig  iron,  and  8 
per  cent  of  the  total 
mineral  wealth  of  the 
United  States. 

Lumber.  —  The 
southern  coniferous 
forest  originally  cov- 
ered nearly  the  whole 
of  the  Coastal  Plain 
and  portions  of  the 
uplands.  It  consists 
mainly  of  yellow  pine 
on  the  dry  land  and 
cypress  in  the  swamps. 
Besides  these,  decidu- 
ous and  evergreen 
oaks,  gums,  cedars,  junipers,  and  magnolias  are  prominent.  The 
wood  of  the  long-leaf,  southern  or  Georgia  pine  (Fig.  160) 
has  little  resemblance  to  that  of  the  white  pine  (p.  140) 
but  is  scarcely  less  valuable.  It  is  hard,  durable,  golden 
yellow  in  color,  varied  in  pattern  of  grain,  and  capable  of  high 
polish.  Its  hardness  and  beauty  make  it  very  desirable  for 
floors  and  the  inside  finish  of  houses.  Cypress  (Fig.  161)  is 
excellent  for  posts,  siding,  and  shingles  and  has  taken  the  place 
of  white  pine  for  general  purposes.  The  uplands  of  Georgia, 
Alabama,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Arkansas  are  the  largest 


n-.M 
•J 

1 

m 

1 

'^'%m 

l^';        '^Pl 

^•' t1 

^  J 

^IiiWiIWt'I 

H 

|« 

tg^^l 

1 

BH^Pi^^h^^ 

I^^^hk^R 

bI''M 

W^ 

■^^M^fW^a 

R 

pUjIH^'''^ 

>>"'  ■ 

s  ^ 

iK 

Fig.  iDo.  —  Southern  pine  forest,  Georgia. 


MANUFACTURE 


2QI 


remaining  sources  of  hardwood  timber  (Fig.  6i).  The  Southern 
States  furnish  nearly  half  the  lumber  used  in  the  United  States 
(Fig.  163). 

Naval  Stores.  — The  distillation  of  tar  and  turpentine  from  pine  wood  is 
a  peculiar  industry  of  the  Coastal  Plain  forest.  Crude  turpentine  is  a  gum 
which  e.xudes  from  cuts 
made  in  the  pitch  pine. 
When  this  is  heated,  the 
vapors  given  off  condense 
into  spirits  of  turpentine, 
extensively  used  in  paints 
and  varnishes.  The  solid 
which  remains  is  common 
rosin.  Pitch  and  tar  are 
distilled  from  the  trunk 
and  limbs  of  pine  trees. 
These  articles  are  used  on 
board  ships  for  calking 
seams  and  coating  ropes, 
and  hence  are  called  naval 
stores. 

Manufacture.  — 

The  difficulty  of  se- 
curing a  constant 
supply  of  workmen  in 
a  warm  country  is  un- 
favorable to  manufac- 
turing on  a  large  scale. 
A  factory  requires  a 
full  force  of  operatives 
to  be  on  hand  every  iig.  lo.. -c> pit.,  luic.i,  Mississippi. 

working  day  in  the  year,  and  as  few  changes  among  them 
as  possible.  In  tropical  and  subtropical  countries  the  people 
are  not  commonly  accustomed  to  work  regularly  and 
steadily,  because  their  modes  and  standards  of  living  do 
not  require  it.     Clothing  is  light,  and  housing  inexpensive.     A 


292 


THK   SorrilllRX    STAIKS:     MANUFACTURES 


liUlc  iiidc  cultixation  of  the  soil  suffices  to  produce  food.  There 
are  months  in  the  year  when  human  Ijeings  can  revert  to  the 
practice  of  collective  economy  and  live  off  the  country,  enjoying 
in  idleness  what  it  spontaneously  produces,  with  little  fore- 
thought and  less  effort  than  the  birds  and  beasts  make.  These 
conditions  exist  to  some  degree  in  the  Southern  States. 

During  the  existence  of  slavery,  the  negroes  were  fit  only  for  agricultural 
and  domestic  service.  The  landholders  found  it  very  profitable  to  raise 
cotton  and  sell  it  all  to  English  and  Yankee  manufacturers,  .\fter  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery,  labor  conditions  were  for  many  years  worse  than  before. 
The  white  planters  had  no  capital,  and  the  negroes,  no  longer  subject 
to  control  and  thrown  upon  their  own  responsibility,  wandered  about  help- 
less and  bewildered.  There  had  come  to  be  a  large  class  of  "  poor  whites," 
people  who  did  not  own  land  and  were  hardly  more  competent  than  the 
blacks.  They  lived  in  poverty  and  ignorance  and  were  generally  regarded 
as  lazy  and  shiftless.  These  characteristics  are  now  known  to  be  due  in 
large  measure  to  the  prevalence  of  hookworm  disease,  which  was  universal 
among  them.  The  worms  enter  the  body  through  the  feet  and,  becoming 
established  in  the  digestive  organs,  produce  serious  disturbance  and  debility 


Fig.  162.  —  Water  power  and  cotton  mill,  Columbus,  Georgia. 


WATERWAYS 


293 


of  the  whole  system.  They  can  be  easily  got  rid  of  by  the  use  of  medicine, 
and  kept  out  by  wearing  shoes  instead  of  going  barefoot.  These  white 
people  have  been  found  available  for  work  in  cotton  mills  and  furnish  a 
supply  of  cheap  labor  scarcely  equaled  elsewhere.  This  is  partly  due  to 
their  large  families  and  the  employment  of  children  in  the  mills.  It  is  not 
unusual  for  parents  to  live  upon  the  earnings  of  their  children  of  all  ages 
from  twelve  years  up. 

Since  1880  cotton  mills  have  been  built  along  the  Fall  Line 
and  near  the  foot  of  the  mountains  where  water  power  is  abun- 
dant (Fig.  162).  North  CaroKna,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  and 
Alabama  now  produce  cotton  goods  amounting  to  one  third  the 
value  of  the  total  for  the  United  States.  They  use  more  raw 
cotton  than  New  England,  but  the  cloths  made  are  coarser  and 
are  largely  exported  to  China  and  tropical  America. 


UNITED  STATES < 

MANUFACTURES 

Fertilizers 

Cotton  goods 

All  manufactures 

Value  added  by  manufacture- - 

MINERAL  AND  FOREST 
PRODUCTS 

Petroleum 

All  minerals 

Timber  and  lumber 


PER  CENT 

40  50  60 


70 


90        100 


Fig.   163.  —  Rank    of    Southern    States  in  manufactures  (see    Table  V,  Appendix); 
in  mineral  and  forest  products  (see  Table  IV,  Appendix). 


and 


The  total  value  of  manufactures  in  the  Southern  States  is 
nearly  one  tenth  that  of  the  United  States.     (See  Fig.  163.) 

Waterways.  —  The  waterways  of  the  Southern  States 
are  utilized  more  extensively  than  in  any  other  region  of  the 
United  States.  This  is  due  to  the  parallel  drainage  peculiar  to 
the  Coastal  Plain.  Outside  the  Mississippi  system,  there  are 
16  rivers  navigable  for  100  miles  or  more  and  leading  directly 
to  the  sea.  Each  forms  a  convenient  outlet  for  its  own  narrow 
drainage  basin,  having  an  inland  town  at  the  head  of  navigation 


294  THK   SOUTHERN   STATES:    COMMERCl': 

and  a  seaport  at  its  mouth.  Each  basin  is  commercially  isolated 
from  ils  neighbors,  and  the  result  is  a  large  number  of  small  towns 
and  ports  and  no  great  centers. 

The  lower  Mississippi  is  capable  of  very  large  development  as 
a  waterway  (p.  159).  At  present  it  carries  little  through  traffic, 
mostly  in  coal  from  Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia,  and  lumber 
from  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin.  The  Federal  Government  has 
spent  many  millions  of  dollars  for  the  improvement  of  navigation. 
The  principal  works  consist  in  protecting  the  banks  from  wash, 
the  removal  of  bars,  the  closing  of  side  channels,  and  the  con- 
struction of  levees  calculated  to  confine  the  waters,  to  quicken 
the  current,  and  to  deepen  the  channel.  A  depth  of  nine  feet 
is  maintained  from  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans,  but  this  is  not  suffi- 
cient to  enable  the  river  to  compete  with  the  railroads  as  a  route 
for  traffic.  A  waterway  at  least  fourteen  feet  deep  from  Chicago 
to  New  Orleans  is  greatly  needed,  but  the  expense  of  construction 
and  maintenance  would  be  enormous.  The  new  demands  created 
by  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  may  justify  the  necessary 
outlay  (p.  160). 

The  Tennessee  River  has  been  improved  by  the  Federal  Government  and 
is  navigable  to  Knoxville,  about  500  miles.  The  Arkansas  and  Red  rivers, 
and  numerous  smaller  tributaries  and  distributaries  of  the  Mississippi  are 
used  for  the  shipment  of  cotton,  sugar,  rice,  and  lumber  from  the  plantations 
and  forests  to  New  Orleans. 

Railroads.  —  The  main  trunk  lines  of  the  Southern  States 
extend  north  and  south,  connecting  the  northern  cities  with  the 
seaports  (Fig.  147).  The  most  extensive  system  is  the  Southern 
Railway,  the  lines  of  which  reach  nearly  every  important  town 
from  Chesapeake  Bay  to  Florida  and  from  the  Atlantic  coast  to 
the  Mississippi.  The  Illinois  Central  parallels  the  Mississippi 
from  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  to  New  Orleans,  touching  the  river 
towns,  and  has  been  a  potent  agent  in  destroying  the  through 
river  traffic.  The  Louisville  and  Nashville  connects  St.  Louis 
and  Cincinnati  with  Memphis,  Atlanta,  Pensacola,  Mobile,  and 


RAILROADS 


295 


New  Orleans.  The  Atlantic  Coast  Line  and  Seaboard  Air  Line 
furnish  direct  routes  from  Chesapeake  Bay,  through  the  principal 
towns  of  the  Coastal  Plain  and  Piedmont  Plateau,  to  southwestern 
Florida.  The  Florida  East  Coast  Railway  passes  through  the 
numerous  seaside  resorts  from  Jacksonville  to  the  southern  end 
of  the  peninsula,  and  is  continued  100  miles  along  the  chain  of 
"  Keys,"  or  small  islands  to  Key  West,  where  it  connects  with 
steamers  for  Havana.     It  crosses  the  shallow  straits  between  the 


Fig.   164.  —  Concrete  arches  of  "the  oversea  railroad,"  Florida. 


Keys  on  concrete  viaducts  (Fig.  164)  aggregating  about  40  miles 
in  length  and  has  thus  earned  the  name  of  "  the  oversea  railroad." 

West  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Missouri,  Kansas,  and  Texas  system  extends 
from  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City  through  Oklahoma  and  eastern  Texas  to 
Galveston.  The  Missouri  Pacific  and  allied  lines  connect  St.  Louis  through 
Arkansas  with  Laredo  and  El  Paso  on  the  Mexican  boundary.  The  most  im- 
portant east-west  line  is  the  Southern  Pacific,  which  runs  from  New  Orleans, 
near  the  southern  boundary  of  the  United  States  to  the  Pacific  coast. 
The  railway  mileage  of  the  Southern  States  is  one  fourth  of  the  total  for  the 
United  States.  The  density  of  mileage  is  two  thirds  that  of  the  Middle  West 
and  nearly  half  that  of  the  Eastern  States. 


296        THK   SOUTHKRX    STATES:    COMMERCE   AND    CITIES 


Foreign  Commerce.  Tlic  total  lorcij^n  (oninu-rcc  ol"  the 
SoutluTii  States  is  onl)'  one  third  as  iinu  h  as  that  of  the  Ivislerii 
Stales,  but  their  exports  amount  to  nearl}-  two  thirds  as  mueh, 
being  more  than  live  times  the  imports.  This  is  due  to  the 
large  place  held  by  cotton,  which  once  formed  more  than  half  the 
total  value  of  the  exports  of  the  United  States  and  is  still  the 
largest  item.  More  than  half  the  crop  is  exported,  having  a  value 
of  $610,000,000. 

Cities.  —  The  agricultural  character  of  the  Southern  States,  the 
relatively  small  development  of  manufactures,  and  the  number  of 
seaports  (p.   274)  are  conditions  unfavorable  to  the  growth  of 

large  cities.  The 
number  having 
10,000  inhabit- 
ants or  more  is 
80,  of  which  only 
live  have  more 
than  100,000. 
Of  cities  of  more 
than  25,000  Texas 
has  eight,  Ten- 
nessee and 
Georgia  four  each, 
the  other  states 
one  or  two,  except 
Mississippi,  which 
has  none. 

New  Orleans. 
—  The  metropolis 
of  the  South  holds 
a  unique  position 
among  American  cities.  It  is  a  river  port  near  the  mouth  of 
one  of  the  largest  rivers  in  the  world,  and  the  principal  seaport 
on  "  the  American  Mediterranean." 


Fig.   165.  —  New  Orleans  and  vicinity. 


NEW   ORLEANS 


297 


Fig.  166.  —  Loading  cotton  on  the  levee  at  New  Orleans. 


Site  and  Plan.  —  New  Orleans  is  a  delta  city  located  in  a  wide 
bend  of  the  Mississippi  100  miles  above  its  mouth  (Fig.  165) .  The 
ground  is  almost  level  alluvial  plain,  only  ten  feet  above  the  sea 
and  as  many  below  the  top  of  the  levee  which  protects  it  at  high 
water.  The  river  front  of  about  nine  miles  curves  around  three 
sides  and  gives  it  the  name  of  "  the  Crescent  City."  The  river 
which  serves  as  a  harbor  (Fig.  166)  is  about  half  a  mile  wide  and 
from  40  to  200  feet  deep.  The  city  with  its  suburbs  extends  back 
from  the  river  to  the  shore  of  Lake  Pontchartrain,  a  large  arm 
of  the  sea,  too  shallow  for  navigation.  The  general  plan  is  well 
adapted  to  the  site  with  one  set  of  streets  curving  parallel  with 
the  river  and  another  set  extending  at  right  angles  to  it.  The 
old  city,  now  called  the  French  or  Latin  Quarter,  occupies  the 
northeastern  part  of  the  area,  and  the  new  city,  or  American 
Quarter,  the  southwestern. 

ELEM.    ECON.    GEOG.  —  l8 


298  I'lii:  s()riiii;k\  s  r.\i'i;s  :   ciiiks 

Piihlir  Works.  Tlu'  low  and  level  surfuccof  ihc  silc,  some  of  which  is  be- 
low sea  level,  renders  the  jjrohlem  of  drainaj^e  din'Rull.  L'nlil  the  present 
century  there  were  no  sewers,  paved  streets,  or  public  water  sujjply.  Rain 
water  stored  in  cisterns  above  ground  and  open  surface  gutters  in  place  of 
sewers  made  the  city  notoriously  unhealthful.  It  was  visited  by  frequent 
epidemics  of  cholera  and  yellow  fever,  and  its  death  rate  was  the  highest  of 
all  the  large  cities  of  the  United  States.  There  are  now  more  than  300  miles 
of  sewers,  which  carry  the  drainage  to  stations  w'here  it  is  pumped  into  the 
river  below  the  city.  Cisterns  have  been  abolished  and  a  supply  of  good 
water  is  obtained  from  the  river  above  the  city.  These  measures  have 
reduced  the  death  rate  more  than  one  half.  The  cemeteries  are  a  notable 
feature.  On  account  of  lack  of  drainage,  burial  is  almost  impossible  and 
the  dead  are  placed  in  tombs  of  brick  or  stone  built  entirely  above  ground. 
The  French  Quarter  contains  many  buildings  and  monuments  of  historic 
interest.  The  city  is  the  seat  of  Tulane  University,  one  of  the  strongest  in 
the  South. 

Commerce.  —  The  great  possibilities  of  New  Orleans  as  a  com- 
mercial center  were  an  important  consideration  which  led  to  the 
purchase  from  France  by  the  United  States  of  the  Louisiana 
Territory  in  1803.  The  opening  of  the  Erie  and  other  canals  and 
the  extension  of  railroads  across  the  northern  Appalachians 
diverted  trade  to  the  north  Atlantic  ports.  In  spite  of  that, 
steamboat  navigation  on  the  Mississippi  developed  to  large 
proportions  and  became  an  important  factor  in  the  settlement  of 
the  Middle  West.  During  that  period  New  Orleans  was  the 
chief  commercial  center  and  the  most  rapidly  growing  city  west 
of  the  Appalachians,  v 

During  the  Civil  War  the  Mississippi  was  closed  and  all  traffic  cut  off. 
The  bars  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  the  unsanitary  conditions  of  the  city, 
and  the  lack  of  enterprise  among  its  citizens  prevented  recovery  of  the  lost 
commerce  for  25  years.  The  river  trade  with  the  Middle  West  has  never 
revived,  but  is  now  far  surpassed  by  the  movement  by  rail.  Between  1875 
and  1880  Captain  Eads  secured  a  deep  channel  to  the  ocean  through  the 
South  Pass  (Fig.  165).  This  was  done  by  the  construction  of  jetties,  or  em- 
bankments which  narrow  the  channel  and  quicken  the  current,  thus  caus- 
ing it  to  scour  out  its  bed  (.Fig.   167).     In   1909  the  Federal  Government 


NEW   ORLEANS 


299 


completed  a  system  of  jetties  at  the  Southwest  Pass,  opening  a  still  deeper 
channel. 

New  Orleans  is  now  accessible  by  the  largest  ocean  steamers, 
of  which  there  are  many  lines  running  to  the  West  Indies,  Central 
America,  New  York,  and  Europe.  The  city  is  fortunate  in  con- 
trolling enlarged  and  improved  docks  and  terminals  to  which 


G.   167.  — Jetties  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  River. 


goods  are  brought  by  eleven  railways.  The  largest  export  is 
cotton,  amounting  to  about  2,000,000  bales.  Sugar,  wheat,  corn, 
lumber,  and  tobacco  are  also  large  items.  Coffee  from  Brazil, 
bananas  from  Central  America,  and  other  tropical  products 
are  the  most  important  imports.  The  foreign  trade  amounts 
to  $283,000,000.  Perhaps  more  than  any  other  seaport.  New 
Orleans  is  in  a  position  to  profit  by  the  opening  of  the  Panama 
Canal,  which  may  compel  the  improvement  of  the  lower  Missis- 
sippi, turn  the  currents  of  trade  from  the  east  to  the  south,  and 
restore  to  the  city  something  of  its  former  importance  as  an  outlet 
for  the  products  of  the  Mississippi  basin. 


300 


THE   SOUTHERN   STATES:   CITIES 


Popiihition. — In  New  Orleans  the  native  while  [wpulalion  of  native 
parentage  is  only  43  per  cent,  but  the  addition  of  the  26  per  cent  of  colored 
people  renders  the  proportion  of  native  Americans  very  large.  Among  the 
foreign  population  Italians  are  most  numerous.  The  original  settlers  were 
of  French  and  Spanish  blood  and  speech,  and  their  descendants,  called 
Creoles,  still  maintain  a  language  of  their  own  and  have  impressed  their 
manners  and  customs  upon  the  whole  city.  To  their  influence  is  due  the 
famous  displays  and  festivities  which  mark  the  carnival  season  and  attract 
many  visitors. 

Galveston.  —  A  small  city  on  a  sand  bar  at  the  mouth  of  a 
shallow  bay  (Fig.  168),  Galveston  is  a  remarkable  example  of  the 

creation  of  a  seaport  almost 


I 


GALVESTON  / 
j  y  /  Railroads:   .^-^^— ^ 

A      ^'^  Sumbtra  Bhow  depth  in /•.i 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


Fig.  168.  —  Galveston. 


without  a  harbor.  The  de- 
mand for  shipments  by  sea 
from  the  country  behind  the 
long  stretch  of  Texas  coast 
was  so  great  that  large  vessels 
anchored  several  miles  off 
shore  and  transferred  cargoes 
in  lighters,  or  small  boats. 
The  Federal  Government  has 
built  jetties  about  20  miles 
long  and  now  maintains  a 
channel  28  feet  deep  to  the  wharves.  In  1900  the  city,  only 
a  few  feet  above  sea  level,  was  destroyed  by  the  waves,  accom- 
panying a  hurricane.  The  demands  of  commerce  were  so  great 
that  capital  was  found  to  rebuild  it  on  a  higher  grade  and  to 
protect  it  by  a  sea  wall  five  miles  long  (Fig.  169). 

Other  Seaports.  —  Of  the  Southern  States  Savannah  (68,000) 
has  the  best  harbor  on  the  Atlantic  coast  and  ships  out  large 
quantities  of  lumber  and  naval  stores.  Charleston  (60,000)  has  a 
harbor  made  accessible  by  jetties  and  was  once  a  great  cotton 
shipping  port.  Its  trade  has  now  declined.  Jacksonville 
(67,000),  the  chief  city,  seaport,  and  railroad  center  of  Florida, 
is  also  a  center  of  attraction  for  winter  visitors.     Mobile  (57,000) 


POPULATION   AND    ECONOMIC    RANK 


301 


Fig.    lOy.  —  The  wall  built  to  protect  (lalveston  from  the  waves. 


stands  at  the  head  of  a  large  but  shallow  bay.  The  natural  ship 
channel  of  only  8  feet  has  been  deepened  to  24  feet,  and  the  city 
exports  cotton  and  lumber,  and  imports  tropical  fruits.  There 
are  many  other  ports  useful  for  the  shipment  of  special  products, 
but  not  marked  by  a  town  of  any  considerable  size.  Among 
these  are  Newhern,  N.C.,  Brunswick,  Ga.,  Pensacola,  Fla., 
Gulfport,  Miss.,  and  Port  Arthur,  Texas.     (See  Fig.  147.) 

Inland  Cities.  —  The  Southern  States  are  a  region  of  small  cities,  each  a 
thriving  railroad  and  manufacturing  center  for  its  own  state.  Among  these 
the  largest  metropolitan  districts  are  Atlanta,  Ga.  (208,000) ;  Birmingham, 
Ala.  (212,000) ;  Memphis  (175,000)  and  Nashville  Tenn.  (150,000) ;  and  the 
cities  of  0^/o/?oma,  Okla.  (88,000) ;  San  Antonio  (iiq,ooo),  Dallas  (118,000), 
Houston  (108,000),  and  Fort  Worth,  Texas  (gQ,ooo). 

Population  and  Economic  Rank.  —  The  mild  climate,  perennial 
rainfall,  and  wide  extent  of  young  plains  which  made  the  growing 
of  cotton  by  slave  labor  profitable  in  the  Southern  States  are 
directly  responsible  for  their  social  and  economic  condition.  A 
native  white  population  of  native  parentage  of  60  per  cent  and  a 
rural  population  of  80  per  cent  are  unequaled  in  any  other  region 


302  THE   SOUTHERN   STATES  :   CITIES 

of  the  United  States  (Fig.  37).  One  third  of  the  people  are 
negroes,  and  in  the  "  black  belt,"  extending  from  South  Carolina 
to  Mississippi,  they  outnumber  the  whites.  Their  presence  has 
kept  the  foreign  population  down  to  6  per  cent  and  made  the 
Southern  States  the  most  purely  American  community  in  the 
country.  At  the  same  time  industry  has  been  hampered  and  the 
region  has  been  kept  in  the  second  class  of  complex  societies  (p.  92) 
which  export  raw  materials  and  import  manufactured  products. 
Summary.  —  The  natural  resources  of  the  Southern  States 
are  ample  to  supply  a  society  of  the  highest  class.  On  account 
of  their  tropical  products  they  might  be  more  self-sufhcing  and 
independent  than  the  Northern  States.  A  continued  influx  of 
capital  from  the  north  is  bringing  about  an  extension  of  the  in- 
dustries which  coal  fields  and  water  power  make  possible.  This, 
combined  with  more  varied  agriculture,  will  in  the  future  raise 
their  economic  rank  and  efficiency. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  public  good  can  be  accomplished  by  the  creation  of  a  National 
Forest  Reserve  in  the  southern  Appalachians  ? 

2.  How  did  slave  labor  affect  manufactures? 

3.  Why  are  manufactures  in  the  Southern  States  chiefly  of  cotton? 

4.  Why  are  warm  countries  generally  unfavorable  to  the  existence  of 
large  factories? 

5.  Why  have  extensive  systems  of  hydroelectric  power  transmission  been 
constructed  in  the  southern  Appalachian  Highland? 

6.  In  what  waterways  are  the  Southern  States  interested  in  common 
with  the  Middle  West  ? 

7.  Find  on  the  map,  Fig.  147,  five  pairs  of  cities,  one  of  each  being  a 
seaport,  the  other  a  river  town,  and  both  on  the  same  river. 

8.  Why  is  navigation  on  the  lower  Mississippi  difficult  ? 

9.  What  other  seaports  in  the  world  stand,  like  New  Orleans,  near  the 
mouth  of  a  large  river  ? 

10.  In  191 5  Galveston  was  again  partly  destroyed  by  a  hurricane.  Is  a 
sea  port  at  Houston,  50  miles  inland,  practicable  and  preferable  to  one  at 
Galveston  ? 


CHAPTER   XXIV 
THE   INTERIOR    STATES 

The  Interior  States  constitute  a  region  in  which  the  natural 
and  economic  conditions  are  strongly  contrasted  with  those  of 
the  rest  of  the  country.  The  land  is  high  and,  except  on  the 
mountains,  treeless.  The  vegetation  varies  from  steppe  to  ab- 
solute desert,  and  agriculture  without  irrigation  is  generally  im- 
possible. Fuel  resources  are  scanty.  Many  of  the  streams  and 
lakes  dwindle  or  go  dry  a  part  of  the  year  and  their  waters  fail 
to  reach  the  sea.  There  is  no  seacoast,  no  waterway,  and  no 
port  upon  lake  or  river.  The  region  is  saved  from  extreme 
poverty  by  the  Rocky  Mountain  system,  which  occupies  three 
eighths  of  its  area.  These  mountains  are  so  lofty  that  they 
condense  sufficient  rainfall  to  support  forests  and  to  feed  great 
rivers,  which  flow  from  them  across  the  arid  plateaus  and  furnish 
water  for  irrigation  and  power.  The  disturbance  of  the  earth 
crust  during  the  upheaval  of  the  mountains  caused  many  cracks 
and  fissures,  which  have  been  filled  with  ores  of  many  metals. 
The  wearing  away  of  the  mountains  by  frost  and  streams  has  left 
the  veins  of  ore  within  reach.  The  principal  resources  are  copper, 
gold,  silver,  lead,  zinc,  bunch  grass,  timber,  and  water  power, 
and  the  chief  occupations  are  mining  and  herding. 

The  natural  region  to  which  the  foregoing  statements  apply 
is  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  rainfall  line  of  20  inches  and  on 
the  west  by  the  crest  of  the  Cascade,  Sierra  Nevada,  and  San 
Bernardino  mountains.  It  extends  northward  into  Canada  and 
southward  into  Mexico.  It  includes  more  than  40  per  cent  of 
the  area  of  the  United  States,  and  has  a  population  less  than  that 

303 


304 


Till';  iNPiikiok  SI  vri;.s 


^s^^ 


A 
-*■• 


Fig.   170.  —  Desert  before  irrigation,  near  Phcenix,  Arizona. 

of  Massachusetts.  Eight  states  he  wholly  within  it,  Montana, 
Idaho,  Wyoming,  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  Arizona  (Figs.  170, 
171),  Utah,  and  Nevada.^  Their  area  is  29  per  cent  of  the 
United  States,  and  their  population,  less  than  3  per  cent,  about 
equals  that  of  Indiana  or  New  Jersey.  The  density  is  three 
persons  to  the  square  mile.     (See  Figs.  29,  34,  35,  36,  172.) 

Relief.  —  The  relief  features  and  regions  of  the  Interior  States 
are  more  complex  than  those  of  the  Atlantic  division  of  the  United 
States  (Fig.  33).  As  a  whole,  the  region  may  be  thought  of  as 
a  plateau,  from  a  half  mile  to  a  mile  high  and  nearly  1000  miles 
across,  having  a  belt  of  mountains  from  100  to  400  mile^  wide  ex- 
tending through  it.  The  mountain  belt  is  widest  in  the  north, 
highest  in  the  middle,  and  narrowest  and  lowest  in  the  south. 
East  of  the  mountains  the  plateau  slopes  gently  to  the  plains 
of  the  Middle  West,  more  abruptly  to  those  of  the  Southern 
States.     West  of   the  mountains,   the  plateau  is  divided  into 

^  These  are  the  Mountain  States  of  the  Census  Bureau. 


RELIEF 


305 


1 

'.A 

Li. 

..dil^MI^ 

I'iG.   171.       Field  of  barley  on  irrigated  desert,  near  Phoenix,  Arizona. 

several  basins  with  a  high  mountain  rim  on  the  west  and  a  rather 
wide  gap  at  the  southwest  corner. 

The  Great  Plains,  more  appropriately  called  the  High  Plains, 
rise  from  the  2000-foot  contour  line  to  a  height  of  4000  to  6000 
feet  at  the  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Over  most  of  the  area 
they  appear  to  be  as  level  and  boundless  as  the  sea,  but  are 
broken  in  some  localities  by  dome-shaped  elevations,  monumental 
buttes,  lines  of  cliff,  narrow  canyons,  and  intricately  dissected 
areas  of  "  bad  lands."  The  most  prominent  feature  is  the 
Black  Hills  in  South  Dakota,  an  eroded  dome  of  oval  out- 
line, 50*  by  100  miles  in  diameter,  rising  about  3000  feet 
above  the  plains,  like  an  island  from  the  ocean.  Their  ele- 
vation produces  a  good  rainfall  and  as  a  result  they  are  well 
forested.  The  extreme  northern  part  of  the  plains  is  covered 
with  glacial  drift. 

The  Rocky  Mountains.  —  This  system  is  so  extensive  and  com- 
plex that  a  detailed  description  would  fill  a  volume. 


=     S       5    -J/  1  3    %  %<S!^%%  \   3  i 


0 


308  "      THE    IX'II.RIOk    STATES 

The  Nortlurn  Rockies  occupy  western  Munlana,  norlhwcslcrn  Wyoming, 
and  most  of  Idaho.  There  arc  scores  of  ranges  with  intervening  valleys 
having  a  general  northwest  and  southeast  trend.  The  liilter  Root  range  on 
the  Idaho-Montana  boundary  forms  the  backbone  ending  in  the  famous  Yel- 
lowstone National  Park.  In  southern  Wyoming  there  is  a  gap  in  the  system 
about  loo  miles  wide  through  which  the  old  emigrant  trail  and  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad  pass.  The  Central  Rockies  consist  of  three  parallel  north- 
south  ranges  in  central  Colorado  and  a  massive  knot  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  that  state.  There  arc  about  too  peaks  more  than  13,000  feet  high,  of 
which  Pikes  Peak  (14,108)  is  one  of  the  highest.  The  Southern  Rockies 
traverse  central  New  Mexico  and  extend  through  Texas  into  Mexico.  The 
Wasatcli  and  Uinta  mountains  in  Utah  form  a  system  distinct  from  the  main 
Rockies,  and  face  the  west  with  a  very  steep  slope. 

The  Intermont  Plateaus.  —  The  space  between  the  Rocky 
IMountains  and  the  Pacific  ranges  is  divided  into  three  plateaus. 

The  Columbia  Plateau  in  Idaho  and  southeastern  Oregon  is  a  smooth  plain 
formed  by  a  sheet  of  lava  thousands  of  feet  thick,  which  flowed  in  a  liquid 
state  from  cracks  in  the  earth  and  spread  out  like  water.  The  Snake  River 
has  cut  a  great  canyon  through  it,  but  there  are  few  surface  streams. 
Western  Utah,  Nevada,  southwestern  Arizona,  and  southeastern  California 
lie  in  the  Great  Basin,  which  is  nearly  surrounded  by  mountains  and  on 
account  of  small  rainfall  has  no  overflow  to  the  sea.  The  surface  is  ridged 
with  scores  of  short,  parallel  mountain  ranges.  Betw-een  the  Rocky  and  the 
Wasatch  mountains,  in  Colorado,  Utah,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona,  the 
Colorado  Plateau  presents  a  series  of  escarpments  (high  cliffs),  rising  by 
gigantic  steps  like  a  staircase  to  flat-topped  mesas  (tables),  which  are  cut 
into  blocks  by  profound  canyons,  all  on  the  largest  scale.  The  structure 
could  be  imitated  by  piling  up  children's  building  blocks. 

Climate.  —  The  economic  character  of  the  Interior  States  is 
determined  even  more  by  the  climate  than  by  the  large  features 
of  relief.  Their  position  in  the  interior  of  the  continent  brings 
extreme  temperatures.  The  coldest  winters  in  temperate  North 
America  occur  in  Montana  and  the  hottest  summers  in  Arizona. 
On  account  of  elevation  the  difTerences  between  day  and  night  are 
large.  Of  more  importance  than  elevation  and  distance  from 
the  sea  is  the  mountain  barrier  along  the  western  border  which 


DRAINACIE  309 

stops  most  of  the  moisture  brought  by  the  westerly  winds  from 
the  Pacific.  As  these  winds  pass  eastward  nearly  all  the  re- 
maining moisture  is  condensed  by  the  Rocky  Mountains  but  the 
Great  Plains  receive  some  rainfall  brought  by  cyclonic  storms  from 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  annual  rainfall  on  the  eastern  and 
northern  plateaus  is  between  15  and  20  inches,  but  in  most  of 
the  heated  depression  of  the  Great  Basin  it  is  less  than  5  inches ; 
the  belts  of  high  mountains  receive  20  to  30  inches. 

Drainage.  —  The  distribution  of  rainfall  determines  the 
peculiar  character  of  the  drainage.  On  the  Atlantic  side,  the 
Missouri  and  Arkansas  rivers  and  their  branches  flow  from  the 
Northern  and  Central  Rockies  as  full,  strong  streams,  subject 
to  great  floods  from  the  melting  snows  of  spring.  In  crossing 
the  arid  plains  they  lose  in  summer  more  water  by  evaporation 
than  they  gain  by  rainfall.  As  their  volume  decreases,  they 
deposit  a  large  part  of  their  load  of  sediment  and  shift  about  in 
crooked  and  divided  channels  through  broad,  shallow,  waste- 
filled  valleys.  Hence  they  are  of  little  or  no  use  for  navigation. 
The  Rio  Grande  flows  southward  parallel  with  the  Southern 
Rockies,  cuts  through  them  on  the  southwestern  border  of  Texas 
and  escapes  to  the  Coastal  Plain  and  Gulf.  It  is  more  variable  in 
volume  and  channel  than  the  northern  rivers. 

On  the  Pacific  side  in  the  north,  the  Columbia  and  the  Snake 
flow  from  the  mountains  across  the  lava  plateau  through  deep 
canyons  and  cut  through  the  Cascade  Range  to  the  ocean.  From 
the  Central  Rockies  and  the  Wasatch,  the  Green  and  Grand 
rivers  unite  to  form  the  Colorado.  These  rivers  and  all  their 
tributaries  are  sunk  far  below  the  surface  of  the  plateau  in  the 
deepest  and  most  extensive  system  of  canyons  in  the  world. 

The  Grand  Canyon  in  northern  Arizona  is  more  than  200  miles  long, 
with  walls  which  rise  precipitously  on  either  side  a  mile  above  the  water. 
On  account  of  rapids,  navigation  in  the  Colorado  is  impossible  and  irrigation 
is  possible  only  after  its  escape  from  the  canyons  into  the  lowland  near  its 
mouth.     It  flows  through  Mexican  territory  into  the  Gulf  of  California, 


3IO 


TIIK    IN'Ii:kl()K    STATES 


which  Hkc  the  Red  Sea  is  a  long,  narrow  arm  of  I  he  ocean  surrounded  by 
deserts. 

The  streams  of  the  (Ireat  liasin  are  small  and  llow  into  salt  lakes  or  sinks 
which  frequently  dry  up.  Many  of  them  are  temporary,  carrying  water 
only  after  a  storm,  and  end  in  the  sands  of  the  waste-fdled  valleys. 

Vegetation.  —  The  mountains  and  plateaus  between  the  heights 
of  6000  and  10,000  feet  generally  receive  20  inches  or  more  of  rain- 
fall   and    are    covered 


'■^rl^-''^' -'-''■ 


l/^T  ' 


with  coniferous  forest 
(Fig.  61).  The  plateaus 
which  receive  between 
10  and  20  inches  of  rain 
are  treeless  steppes  on 
which  the  character- 
istic vegetation  is  bunch 
grass.  Here  in  sum- 
mer two  or  three 
species  of  grass  grow  in 
bunches  with  more  or 
less  bare  ground  be- 
tween. In  autumn  the 
grass  dies  and  cures 
upon  the  ground,  fur- 
nishing all  the  year 
round  an  amount  of 
very  nutritious  fodder 
strictly  proportional  to  the  rainfall  of  the  growing  season. 
The  areas  with  less  than  10  inches  of  rain  may  be  classed  as 
desert,  producing  a  scanty  growth  of  scattered,  thorny,  thick- 
skinned,  and  almost  leafless  plants,  adapted  to  dry  soil  and 
dry  air,  of  which  the  sage  brush  and  cactus  are  striking 
examples  (Fig.  173). 

Summary.  —  Elevation  above  the  sea,  mountain  ranges,  and 
position  in  the  interior  of  the  continent  render  the  Interior  States 


Fig.   173. 


Sage  brush  land  capable  of  irrigation, 
Oregon. 


QUESTIONS  *"'  311 

generally  too  dry,  too  cold,  or  too  rough  for  agriculture.     Mining 
and  herding  are  conspicuous  economies. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  How  does  the  Sierra  Nevada-Cascade  system  affect  the  economic  value 
of  the  Interior  States?     How  does  the  Rocky  Mountain  system  affect  it  ? 

2.  Why  are  the  rivers  of  the  Interior  States  of  little  use  for  navigation  ? 

3.  Why  is  the  population  of  the  Interior  States  so  sparse?     (Fig.  34.) 


CHAPrKR    XXV 
THE    INTERIOR    STATES:    HERDING    AND    AGRICULTURE 

In  the  Interior  States  the  most  general,  permanent  resource 
is  bunch  grass  and  the  most  common  occupation  is  grazing 
cattle  and  sheep.  As  a  rule,  the  ground  is  too  dry  to  support 
trees  or  the  grasses  which  form  a  dense,  continuous  sward,  and 
farming  by  ordinary  methods  is  a  failure.  Lands  having  a  rainfall 
between  15  and  20  inches  are  called  semiarid,  and  where  the 
evaporation  is  relatively  small,  as  in  the  north,  farming  by  special 
methods  may  prove  permanently  successful. 

Cattle ;  The  Free  Range.  —  The  possible  resources  of  the 
Great  Plains  were  indicated  to  the  first  white  men  who  visited 
them  by  the  enormous  herds  of  "  humpbacked  cattle,"  or  buffa- 
loes, they  saw  there.  They  were  among  the  largest  of  the  cattle 
family,  the  males  sometimes  weighing  a  ton  and  standing  nearly 
six  feet  high.  No  accurate  count  was  ever  made,  but  their  num- 
bers were  millions.  A  single  herd  sometimes  formed  a  nearly 
solid  column  25  miles  wide. 

About  the  middle  of  the  last  century  the  buffaloes  began  to  be  displaced 
by  cattle  descended  from  those  brought  by  the  Spaniards  to  Mexico.  The 
land  belonged  to  the  Federal  Government  and  was  unoccupied  except  by 
hostile  Indians,  hunters,  trappers,  and  an  occasional  miHtary  post.  Herds 
of  long-horned,  half  wild  cattle  were  driven  northward  to  feed  upon  the  rich 
pastures  of  the  "  free  range."  The  "  long  trail  "  stretched  its  main  lines 
from  Texas  to  Montana,  with  branches  covering  the  territory  between  the 
Missouri  and  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The  cowboys  in  charge  of  the  herd 
had  no  home  except  the  camp  by  night  and  the  saddle  by  day,  and  became 
perhaps  the  most  skillful  horsemen  in  the  world.  Every  animal  was  marked 
with  the  special  brand  of  its  owner.  The  branding  was  done  at  a  spring 
"  round-up  "  where  all  the  cattle  from  a  wide  territory  were  got  together,  and 
each  calf  was  marked  with  the  brand  of  its  mother.     At  another  round-up 

312 


FORAGE  313 

in  Ihc  autumn  the  cattle  belonging  to  the  different  owners  were  separated  and 
the  best  of  each  herd  were  sorted  out  to  be  driven  to  market. 

Ranching.  — ■  The  extension  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
across  the  plains  between  1865  and  1869  was  the  beginning  of 
great  changes  in  the  cattle  business.  The  Indians,  who  had  been 
the  cowboys'  worst  enemies,  were  brought  under  control.  Towns 
where  thousands  of  cattle  were  shipped  eastward  by  rail  sprang 
up  like  magic.  While  cattle  raising  was  thus  stimulated,  the  rail- 
road also  brought  permanent  settlers  who  bought  land,  and  the 
free  range  began  to  be  broken  up.  Railroad  extension  and  the 
settlement  of  the  country  have  gone  on  until  cattle  are  now  kept 
upon  ranches,  in  some  cases  of  immense  size,  but  the  land  is 
owiied  or  leased  by  the  occupants  and  fenced  with  barbed  wire. 
The  cowboys  live  in  substantial  ranch  houses,  from  which  they 
are  seldom  absent  more  than  a  few  days  at  a  time.  One  cowboy 
can  usually  look  after  1000  head  ranging  over  a  territory  as  large 
as  an  ordinary  township  of  36  square  miles.  Wells  and  windmills 
supply  water,  hay  is  made,  and  shelter  is  provided  for  the  cattle. 
Thus  losses  once  common  from  starvation  and  exposure  during 
severe  storms  are  avoided. 

Forage.  —  The  productivity  of  arid  lands  has  been  greatly 
increased  by  the  introduction  of  new  forage  plants  which  flourish 
in  spite  of  small  rainfall.  Of  these  the  most  important  is  alfalfa, 
a  rich  and  vigorous  clover,  which  sends  its  roots  to  great  depths. 
The  valleys  of  the  cattle  country  can  usually  be  irrigated  and 
made  to  yield  from  three  to  five  cuttings  a  year,  the  hay  from 
which  is  almost  as  fattening  as  corn. 

The  ranchman  knows  how  many  head  he  can  send  to  market  each  year, 
and  the  business  has  lost  most  of  its  adventurous  character.  Few  milch 
cows  are  kept,  and  butter  and  cheese  are  often  imported  for  use  on  the  ranch. 
The  aim  is  to  produce  beef  cattle  as  rapidly  as  possible.  Cattle  are  pastured 
on  the  ranch  about  two  years  and  then  sold  to  farmers  in  the  Middle  West, 
Southern  States,  and  even  as  far  east  as  Pennsylvania  to  be  fattened  on 
corn  or  cotton  seed  before  slaughtering.     The  chief  centers  for  slaughtering 


314      THK   INTKRIOR    STATKS :   HERDING   AND   AGRICULTURE 

and  meal  packing  arc  Chicago,  Kansas  City,  New  York,  Omaha,  Indianapo- 
lis, and  St.  Louis  (Chap.  XII). 

The  leading  cattle  states  of  the  Interior  are  Colorado,  Montana, 
New  Mexico,  and  Wyoming.  While  cattle  raising  is  an  important 
industry  of  the  Interior  States,  the  whole  number  of  beef  cattle 
kept  is  only  about  14  per  cent  of  the  total  number  in  the 
United  States,  and  is  less  than  those  in  the  state  of  Texas  alone. 
The  most  favorable  conditions  for  beef  production  are  found  in 
the  border  states,  which  combine  grazing  with  a  large  corn  crop. 
Of  these,  Texas,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Oklahoma  lead  all 
others. 

Sheep.  — ^The  Interior  States  rank  higher  in  the  number  of 
sheep  raised  than  in  cattle,  the  total  amounting  to  44  per  cent  of 
the  number  in  the  whole  United  States.  Sheep  thrive  on  thinner 
and  coarser  pasturage  than  cattle,  and  there  are  still  large  areas 
of  unsold  and  unoccupied  land  belonging  to  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, where  sheep  grazing  is  permitted  under  suitable  regula- 
tions.    (See  Fig.  174.) 


Fig.  174.  —  Distribution  of  sheep  in  the  United  States. 


ACRICULTURE 


315 


Wool  and  Mutton.  —  Sheep  are  raised  for  both  wool  and  llesh,  but  the 
best  wool  and  the  best  mutton  cannot  be  produced  by  the  same  animal. 
The  Spanish  Merino  sheep  is  little  more  than  a  bag  of  bones,  covered  with 
a  wrinkled  skin,  upon  which  grows  a  dense  fleece  of  fine  wool  sometimes 
amounting  to  one  third  of  the  total  weight  of  the  animal  (Fig.  17 5).  On 
the  other  hand,  the  plump  carcass  of  the  English  Southdown  sheep,  covered 
with  hght,  coarse  wool,  furnishes  200  pounds  of  delicious  mutton.  There- 
fore, the  sheep  grower  must  adapt  his  breed  to  his  resources  and  market. 
In  rough,  arid,  and  sparsely  settled  regions,  limited  pasturage,  lack  of  grain, 
and  distance  from  market  tend  to  make  mutton  unprofitable,  while  wool 
can  be  easily  grown  and 
shipped  to  any  distance  (p. 
217).  In  rich  agricultural  re- 
gions near  large  cities  mutton 
yields  a  larger  return  than 
wool. 

In  the  west,  sheep  were 
at  first  bred  entirely  for 
wool.  The  use  of  cold 
storage  and  refrigerator 
cars  (p.  144)  has  enlarged 
the  market  for  mutton 
and  the  sheep  herders 
have  found  it  increasingly 
profitable  to  breed  ani- 
mals for  flesh.  As  in  the  case  of  cattle,  the  lack  of  grain  for 
fattening  is  to  some  extent  overcome  by  selling  full-grown 
animals  to  the  farmers  of  the  Middle  West  and  Eastern  States, 
where  they  are  kept  in  small  flocks.  Better  feed  and  care  result 
in  more  rapid  increase,  and  the  annual  flock  of  lambs  is  far  more 
valuable  than  the  wool.     (See  Fig.  176.) 

Agriculture.  —  The  cattle  and  sheep  country  is  being  year  by 
year  encroached  upon  and  invaded  by  homesteaders  or  "  nesters," 
men  with  small  capital,  who  do  not  depend  wholly  upon  herding, 
but  live  more  or  less  by  farming.  Everywhere  the  ranches  are 
being  broken  up  into  farms.     The  story  of  this  change  and  how 


ji«i#iiHS 

Wr 

f  A I  v,y-  ajtsi 

^^^HfvV 

Fig.  175.  —  Merino  ram. 


3i6    Tin-;  intkkior  statks  :  hi-rdtnc.  and  agriculture 


it  has  come  ahout   forms  a  remarkable  chapter  in  the  ('(ononuc 
hist()i"\  ol  the  count  r\'. 


X 


■«,i  «  -  ,  ^sr 


Jl^^ 


I'lc.    17(1.    -    Slurp  (in  ail  ( )r<.-gon  ranch. 

The  first  attempts  at  farming  on  a  large  scale  in  the  semiarid  country 
were  disastrous  failures.  The  abundant  returns  from  the  farms  of  eastern 
Kansas  and  Nebraska  led  the  settlers  to  push  westward  beyond  the  20-inch 
rainfall  line.  A  series  of  years  during  which  the  rainfall  was  above  the 
average  led  them  to  believe  that  "  rain  follows  the  plow."  New  counties 
were  organized,  new  towns  were  laid  out,  and  public  buildings  were  erected 
on  a  large  scale.  A  period  of  less  than  average  rainfall  followed,  crops  failed 
year  after  year,  and  people  were  compelled  to  move  or  starve.  Whole 
towns  were  deserted  with  loss  of  all  the  capital  invested.  An  apparently 
thriving  agricultural  region  was  left  in  the  possession  of  its  original  inhabit- 
ants, the  prairie  dogs. 


DROUGHT  PLANTS 


317 


Twenty  years  later  the  same  and  similar  lands  were  taken  up  t)y  farmers 
who  had  learned  from  experience  and  by  scientific  research  what  can  and  what 
cannot  be  done  in  an  arid  climate.  The  methods  which  make  success 
possible  are  chiefly  three  :  planting  crops  which  resist  drought,  dry  farming, 
and  irrigation. 

Drought  Plants.  --  The  general  characteristics  of  plants  pe- 
culiar to  dry  regions  are  given  on  page  65.  Some  of  them  have 
been  cultivated  by  desert  peoples  for  ages  and  are  of  great  value. 
The  United  States  De- 
partment of  Agriculture 
has  sent  out  agents  all 
over  the  world  to  look 
for  plants  which  might 
prove  useful  at  home. 
Experts  have  been  em- 
ployed to  breed  new  va- 
rieties which  might  be 
adapted  to  unusual  con- 
ditions. 

The  result  of  such  re- 
search has  been  the  intro- 
duction of  alfalfa,  Kafir 
corn  (Fig.  177),  durum 
wheat,    and    millet.     Al-  '^"  ^^^' 

falfa,  formerly  known  as  lucern,  originated  in  Asia,  but  was  intro- 
duced into  the  western  states  from  Chile.  Its  influence  upon  agri- 
culture can  hardly  be  overestimated.  It  produces  more  fodder  per 
acre  than  any  other  plant,  and  when  plowed  under,  it  fertilizes  the 
soil.  Its  cultivation  has  extended  into  the  humid  lands  of  the  east, 
where  it  is  taking  the  place  of  the  long-established  timothy  and 
clover  for  meadows.  Several  varieties  of  durum  or  hard  wheat 
have  been  brought  from  southeastern  Russia  and  are  resistant 
to  cold,  drought,  and  disease.  The  yield  is  large  and  their  cultiva- 
tion has  extended  into  arid  regions  where  no  such  crop  was 

ELEM.   ECON.    GEOG. — IQ 


A  field  of  Kafir  corn. 


3iS     nii:  ix'ii.kioK  siaimis:  in:ki)iN(;  and  ackiculturk 

iinagint'd  j)ossiblc.  J'hc  Hour  contains  too  much  gluten  lor 
bread  making  and  is  used  in  the  form  of  macaroni.  Kafir  corn 
brought  from  South  Africa  produces  grain,  not  in  ears  but  on 
the  loose  stems  of  the  tassel,  under  conditions  of  dryness  where 
eared  corn  would  hardly  survive  through  the  season.  Millet 
and  sorghum  are  names  applied  to  several  species  of  grass,  the 
seeds  of  which  are  used  in  the  Old  World  as  human  food.  In 
America  their  drought  resisting  qualities  have  led  to  their  culti- 
vation for  forage  and  fodder. 

Dry  Farming.  — •  The  area  in  which  plants  especially  adapted  to  arid 
climates  and  soils  can  be  grown  with  profit  has  been  greatly  extended  by 
"  dry  farming."  This  consists  essentially  in  retarding  evaporation  of 
water  from  the  ground  and  thus  storing  the  rainfall  of  two  or  more  years 
to  raise  one  crop.  This  is  done  by  frequent  cultivation  and  mulching.  The 
amount  of  land  and  labor  required  is  about  twice  as  much  as  for  the  same 
return  in  humid  regions. 

Irrigation.  —  Desert  soils  are  not  generally  lacking  in  any 
plant  food  except  water.  On  the  contrary  the  rainfall  is  insuffi- 
cient to  wash  out  salts  of  soda,  potash,  and  Hme  which  accumu- 
late and  render  the  soil  alkahne  and  unfit  for  ordinary  vegetation. 

The  only  sure  method  by  which  agriculture  can  be  permanently 
maintained  on  lands  which  lack  rain  is  by  supplying  water  from 
other  sources.  Most  arid  lands  are  penetrated  or  crossed  by 
streams  which  have  their  sources  in  well-watered  highlands.  The 
typical  and  historic  example  is  Egypt,  almost  rainless,  but  made 
rich  by  the  Nile  water  from  the  plateaus  of  equatorial  Africa. 
Natural  irrigation  occurs  when  such  a  stream  overflows  its 
banks  and  inundates  its  valley.  As  soon  as  the  flood  sub- 
sides, grain  may  be  sown  upon  the  mud  and  the  crop  will 
mature  before  the  saturated  soil  is  completely  dried.  In  very 
early  times  men  learned  to  extend  the  area  of  watered  land 
and  to  prolong  the  benefits  of  the  flood  by  artificial  means. 
These  consist  of  reservoirs  to  store  up  water  for  use  during  the 


RECLAMATION   SERVICE 


319 


dry  season,  pumps  for  lifting  water  to  higher  levels,  and  canals 
and  ditches  for  distributing  water  over  the  fields  (Fig.  178). 

Irrigation  on  a  large  scale  is  sometimes  possible  by  very  simple  means. 
The  Jordan  River  in  Utah  is  fed  by  streams  from  the  Wasatch  Mountains, 
and  empties  into  Great 
Salt  Lake,  which  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  barren  plain. 
Ages  ago,  a  flow  of  lava 
across  the  valley  dammed 
the  river  and  formed  Utah 
Lake,  a  natural  reservoir 
of  fresh  water  30  miles  long. 
When  the  Mormons  settled 
in  Salt  Lake  valley,  they 
had  only  to  build  an  inex- 
pensive dam  in  the  canyon 
which  the  river  had  cut 
through  the  lava,  and  run 
ditches  over  the  plain  to 
secure  an  abundant  har- 
vest. 


Fig.  17S. 


Dam,  and  irrigation  canal  leading  to  farms 
in  the  distance,  Idaho. 


Reclamation  Service.  —  Modern  irrigation  works  demand 
the  exercise  of  the  highest  engineering  skill  and  are  in  many 
cases  too  costly  for  individual  or  private  enterprise.  They  are 
sometimes  constructed  by  a  company  which  sells  the  water  to  the 
farmers,  but  the  most  extensive  projects  are  carried  out  by  the 
Government  (Figs.  179,  180).  The  United  States  Reclamation 
Service  has  been  instituted  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  favorable 
sites  and  constructing  works,  the  cost  of  which  will  be  repaid  by 
the  sale  of  land,  water,  and  power.  A  peculiar  combination  of 
natural  features  is  necessary.  There  must  be  a  stream  of  con- 
siderable and  fairly  constant  volume,  and  either  a  natural  lake 
or  a  narrow  canyon  which  can  be  closed  by  a  dam  to  make  a  res- 
ervoir. There  must  be  extensive  lowlands  in  the  valley  below, 
over  which  water  may  be  easily  distributed  and  from  which  it 


320       IHK    INlKRTOR    STATI'.S  :    IIKRDIXC,    AXD    AdRIcn.TrRE 


^«mK^ai¥*-.'a^fBlgiJ 


Fig.   i7g.  —  Steppe  before  irrigaliun,  Shoshone  Project,  Wyoming. 


Fig.  i8o.  —  Alfalfa  field  on  steppe  after  irrigation,  Shoshone  Project,  Wyoming. 


RECLAMATION   SERVICE 


321 


may  be  drained,  for  drainage  is  as  necessary  as  supply  (p.  318). 
These  conditions  are  commonly  found  where  streams  flow  out 
from  the  mountains  upon  the  plains.  Along  the  eastern  side  of 
the  Northern  and  Central  Rockies,  on  the  tributaries  of  the 
Missouri,  ten  projects  have  been  undertaken  or  completed,  on 
the  Rio  Grande  and  Pecos  three,  on  the  Colorado  and  Gila  four, 


Fig.   181,  —  Irrigation  projects  in  the  Interior  and  Pacific  States. 


on  the  Columbia  and  Snake  six,  and  in  the  Great  Basin  two 
(Fig.  181).     Of  these  a  few  may  be  described  as  examples  of  all. 

The  Truckee-C arson  Project.  —  On  the  Nevada-California  boundary  Lake 
Tahoe,  a  deep  glacial  lake  in  the  Sierra  Nevada,  6000  feet  above  the  sea,  con- 


322      THK    INIIKIOK    STATKS  :     II  i'.RDIXC    .WD    .\(  iKFClH/I'URK 

laiiis  walcr  of  grcal  purity.  Itsoullcl,  the  Triu  kcc  River,  has  been  diverted 
by  a  dam  and  canal  which  carries  the  water  to  the  Carson  valley  to  irrigate 
350,000  acres  of  alkali  desert. 

The  Salt  River  Project.  — On  the  u[)i)er  Salt  River,  above  Phoenix,  Ari- 
zona, the  Roosevelt  dam,  loSo  feet  long,  and  284  feet  high,  forms  a  lake 
covering  25  square  miles  and  impounding  water  enough  to  irrigate  270,000 
acres  in  the  valley  below.  The  watershed  is  mountainous,  largely  forested, 
and  controlled  by  the  government.  Hydroelectric  power  is  developed  in 
the  canal  for  industrial  purposes,  and  for  {)umping  water  from  the  irrigated 
ground  to  be  used  again  for  the  same  purpose. 

The  Yuma  Project.  — The  lower  300  miles  of  the  Colorado  River  in  Ari- 
zona-California is  bordered  by  a  wide  Hood  plain,  terminating  in  a  great 
delta  in  Mexican  territory.  The  available  water  is  sufficient  to  irrigate 
1,375,000  acres.  A  dam  at  Laguna  nearly  a  mile  long  and  19  feet  high  pro- 
vides for  watering  130,000  acres. 

The  Uncompahgre  Project.  —  In  southwestern  Colorado,  by  an  extraor- 
dinary feat  of  engineering,  the  water  of  the  Gunnison  River  is  turned  out 
of  an  almost  impassable  canyon  through  a  six-mile  tunnel  to  irrigate  150,000 
acres  in  the  wide  Uncompahgre  valley. 

The  Arrowrock  Project.  —  Near  Boise,  Id.,  in  a  tributary  of  the  Snake 
River,  a  dam,  iioo  feet  long  and  350  feet  high,  impounds  water  to  irrigate 
248,000  acres. 

The  area  of  irrigable  land  in  the  arid  regions  of  the  United 
States  is  limited  by  the  amount  of  available  water.  It  is  vari- 
ously estimated  to  be  from  60  to  100  million  acres,  or  about  one 
tenth  of  the  total  area. 

Wells.  —  The  flow  of  water  from  the  mountains  is  not  confined 
to  the  surface,  but  it  seeps  slowly  through  porous  strata  under 
ground  to  a  distance  of  hundreds  of  miles.  This  makes  it  possible 
over  a  large  portion  of  the  Great  Plains  to  obtain  sufficient  water 
from  wells,  not  only  for  stock  but  for  crops.  Some  of  the  wells, 
notably  in  the  Dakotas,  are  artesian,  from  which  strong  streams 
of  water  flow  by  natural  pressure.  A  recent  development  in 
northwestern  Texas  is  the  use  of  pumps  driven  by  oil  or  gasoline 
engines.  A  single  well  not  more  than  100  feet  deep  may  furnish 
water  to  irrigate  160  acres.  The  supply  of  ground  water  seems 
inexhaustible  but  probably  is  not  so.     Whether  large  areas  of 


BEET   SUGAR  323 

pasture  can  be  in  this  way  permanently  converted  into  farm  lands 
remains  to  be  seen. 

Crops.  —  The  crops  grown  vary  with  the  situation  and  climate. 
In  the  north  alfalfa,  grain,  and  sugar  beets  are  staple  products. 
In  Colorado  and  the  Pacific  States,  apples,  pears,  peaches,  apri- 
cots, and  other  fruits  are  prolific  and  of  superior  quality.  In  the 
south  grain  and  vegetables  are  grown  in  the  cool  season,  and  corn, 
tobacco,  and  cotton  during  the  hot  season.  Alfalfa  grows  all  the 
year  round  and  yields  six  or  eight  cuttings.'  Citrus  and  other 
semitropical  fruits  are  of  prime  importance  in  southern  Cali- 
fornia. Their  area  can  be  extended  by  better  shipping  facilities. 
Of  the  14  miUion  acres  of  land  now  under  irrigation,  80  per 
cent  is  in  forage  and  grain  to  feed  live  stock  which  can  be  shipped 
to  market.  Fruit  and  vegetables  are  heavy  and  perishable  and 
the  cost  of  transportation  is  generally  prohibitive. 

Beet  Sugar.  —  Of  the  two  principal  sources  of  sugar,  cane 
cannot  be  grown  far  beyond  the  frost  line,  while  beets  require 
a  growing  season  hardly  as  long  and  warm  as  corn.  There 
are  no  natural  obstacles  to  prevent  the  United  States  from  being 
independent  of  foreign  lands  for  a  supply  of  sugar. 

Like  cane  growing,  the  beet  industry  involves  large  capital,  cooperation, 
and  labor  cost  (p.  284).  The  factory  for  extracting  sugar  is  costly  and  must 
be  supplied  with  the  product  of  hundreds  of  acres.  The  beets  are  bulky 
and  heavy,  and  cannot  be  shipped  far.  They  require  a  rich  loam  or  muck 
soil,  frequent  rain  in  early  summer,  and  a  dry  harvest.  The  cultivation, 
weeding,  and  harvesting  involve  hand  labor,  much  of  which  can  be  per- 
formed by  women  and  children.  The  crop  of  10  to  15  tons  per  acre  is  hauled 
to  the  factory  to  be  ground  and  pressed.  The  juice  is  evaporated  until  the 
sugar  crystallizes  out  and  the  pulp  is  fed  to  stock  (Fig.  182) 

Sugar  beets  are  well  suited  to  the  climate  and  irrigated  lands 
of  the  Interior  States,  which  produce  nearly  one  half  the  crop  of 
the  United  States ;  more  than  one  fourth  is  grown  in  the  Middle 
West  and  one  fifth  in  the  Pacific  States.  The  industry  is  strongly 
localized  in  a  few  counties.     The  leading  states  are  Colorado, 


324      Till",    IXTERrOR    STAPHS:     IIIIRDINC.    AXl)    AGRICUI/rURK 

California,  and  Michigan.     Sugar  beets  arc  extensively  gfown 
in  I'AiroiJc,  from  central  Russia  to  northern  France.     During  the 


Fig.   182.  —  Field  of  sugar  beets.     Factory  in  the  background. 

last  35  years  the  total  yield  of  sugar  from  beets  has  been  most 
of  the  time  greater  than  that  from  cane. 

Life  on  Irrigated  Lands.  —  The  ordinary  farmer  might  imagine  an  ideal 
condition  in  which  he  would  have  such  control  of  the  weather  as  to  command 
rain  exactly  when  he  wants  it  and  in  exactly  such  quantities  as  he  needs. 
During  the  rest  of  the  time  the  sun  would  shine  from  a  nearly  cloudless  sky. 
There  would  be  no  bad  seasons  or  years,  and  his  crops  would  never  fail. 
Relieved  of  all  anxiety,  he  could  calculate  closely  the  yield  of  his  farm.  On 
irrigated  land  the  farmer's  dream  comes  true.  At  regular  intervals  he  can 
turn  water  from  the  canal  into  his  fields  until  the  ground  is  saturated.  It  is 
measured  out  to  him  and  he  pays  for  it  by  the  acre-inch,  or  the  quantity 
necessary  to  cover  an  acre  one  inch  deep. 

Life  on  irrigated  land  differs  materially  from  rural  life  in  humid  regions. 
The  high  value  of  the  land,  its  extreme  productiveness,  and  the  cost  of  water 


QUESTIONS 


325 


make  large  farms  Impossible.  From  10  to  40  acres  will  support  an  average 
family  in  comfort.  An  irrigated  area  is  an  agricultural  island  in  a  desert 
sea.  A  dense  population  on  a  small  area,  surrounded  by  wide  stretches  of 
sparse  population,  tends  to  the  growth  of  villages,  in  which  all  the  homes 
may  be  located.  Good  schools,  churches,  libraries,  and  other  social  ad- 
vantages are  possible,  but  the  manufactures  and  trade  which  give  rise 
to  a  large  city  are  lacking. 

Summary.  —  The  Interior  States  seem  fitted  by  nature  only 
for  cattle  and  sheep  ranching.  Human  skill  guided  by  scientific 
knowledge  will  make  use  of  a  portion  of  the  area  for  agriculture. 
(See  Fig.  183.) 


UNITED  STATES 

Wool,  (value) 

Sheep. 

Neat  cattle 

All  farm  products 

Farm  property 

Improved  land 


PER  CENT 
40  50  60 


Fig.  183. 


Rank    of    Interior    States    in    farms    and    farm    products. 
Appendix.) 


80  90        100 

(Sec    Table    IK, 


QUESTIONS 

1.  What  part  is  played  by  the  horse  in  cattle  ranching? 

2.  Why  has  not  herding  on  the  American  steppe  produced  a  nomad 
economy  like  that  of  the  Asiatic  steppe  (p.  32)  ? 

3.  Why  does  Iowa  raise  nearly  live  times  as  many  cattle  as  Wyoming? 

4.  Is  the  future  supply  of  wool  likely  to  be  sufficient  ?     Why  (pp.  217-18)? 
Is  there  any  good  substitute  for  it  ? 

5.  How  do  cultivation  and  mulching  retard  evaporation  from  the  soil? 

6.  Was  the  Garden  of  Eden  irrigated?     {See  Genesis  II,  10.) 

7.  Why  is  drainage  of  irrigated  lands  necessary? 

8.  What  limits  the  possible  supply  of  water  to  be  obtained  from  a  well  ? 
Q.  How  is  farming  by  irrigation  preferable  to  dependence  on  rainfall  ? 
10.  What  use  may  be  made  of  irrigation  in  humid  regions  like  the  Middle 

West? 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
THE   INTERIOR    STATES:    MINING 

Early  History.  —  The  Spaniards  from  Mexico  explored  the 
southern  part  of  the  Interior  States  in  search  of  gold  and  silver, 
but  finding  none,  settled  here  and  there  upon  great  estates 
and  raised  cattle  in  an  unenterprising  way.  At  the  close  of  the 
Mexican  War  in  1848  an  immense  area  on  the  southwest  was 
added  to  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  and  in  1849  the  dis- 
covery of  gold  in  California  brought  a  rush  of  adventurous  fortune 
seekers  from  the  east.  In  1858  the  discovery  of  gold  on  the  South 
Platte,  near  the  present  site  of  Denver,  swelled  still  further  the 
flood  of  immigrants,  in  this  case  destined  to  settle  in  the  region 
instead  of  merely  passing  through.  From  that  time  to  the  pres- 
ent, mining  has  played  a  large  part  in  the  economy  of  the  far 
western  states.  Rich  veins  of  ore  yielding  gold,  silver,  copper, 
lead,  or  zinc  —  usually  two  or  more  of  these  metals  —  occur  in 
nearly  every  state  and  province  from  Alaska  to  Mexico. 

Gold.  —  Gold  and  silver,  on  account  of  their  high  value  per 
ounce  and  their  use  as  money,  appeal  strongly  to  the  imagination 
and  greed  of  men.  There  are  probably  few  square  miles  of  moun- 
tainous territory  which  have  not  been  visited  by  the  prospector 
in  search  of  precious  metal. 

Native  gold  occurs  in  veins  of  quartz,  in  grains  so  minute  as  to  be  in  many 
specimens  invisible.  Wherever  these  veins  outcrop  on  the  surface,  they 
have  been  decomposed  by  the  weather  and  along  with  common  sand  and 
gravel  washed  down  the  stream  beds.  The  separation  of  gold  from  gravel 
is  called  placer  mining,  and  can  be  carried  on  with  small  outfit  and  capital. 
Two  men  can  carry  tent,  blankets,  tools,  and  provisions  into  rough  and 
remote  regions,  and  wash  stream  gravel  in  a  pan  or  wooden  trough  called  a 

326 


GOLD 


327 


cradle.  The  coarser  bul  lighter  materials  are  washed  away,  while  the  heavy 
grains  of  gold  are  left  in  the  bottom.  The  fine  gold  dust  is  caught  on  the 
rough  surface  of  a  blanket,  or,  if  possible,  mercury  is  used  to  absorb  it.  If 
the  "  diggings  "  prove  rich,  an  elaborate  system  of  ditches  and  sluices  is 
constructed  to  wash  gravel  on  a  larger  scale.  In  hydraulic  mining  a  powerful 
stream  of  water  from  a  pipe  turned  against  a  bank  removes  immense  quan- 
tities in  a  short  time  and  renders  it  profitable  to  work  gravel  poor  in  gold 


Fig.  184. 


Hydraulic  mining.     Washing  gold  out  of  a  gravel  bank  wilh  jets  of  water, 
California. 


(Fig.  184).  The  "  mother  lode,"  or  vein  from  which  the  placer  gold  has  been 
derived,  is  searched  for  and  often  found  far  up  toward  the  mountain  summit. 
In  quartz  mining  the  gold-bearing  vein  is  mined  through  shafts  and  tunnels 
by  drilling  and  blasting,  hoisted  to  the  surface,  and  sent  to  stamp  mills, 
where  it  is  crushed  to  powder  and  the  gold  is  extracted  with  mercury  or 
other  chemicals.  The  vein  is  followed  down  into  the  earth  crust  until  it 
ends,  or  the  mine  is  flooded  with  hot  water,  or  some  other  difficulty  makes 
it  unprofitable.     Quartz  mining  requires  a  large  investment   of  capital 


328 


THE    IXTKKIOR    SrA'PHS  :    MIXING 


and  is  a  hazardous  business.  Any  day  a  thick  vein  may  be  found  lo  thin 
out,  or  a  rich  vein  may  become  poor,  or  the  reverse  may  hai)i)en.  The 
gambling  element  of  chance  is  large  and  is  the  secret  of  much  of  ihe  attrac- 
tiveness of  gold  mining.     Only  a  small  proportion  of  mines  pay  and  a  small 

proportion  of  miners  be- 
come wealthy. 


Other     Metals.  — 

Silver  usually  occurs 
along  with  gold,  lead, 
copper,  or  some  other 
metal  in  the  same  ore. 
Little  can  be  obtained 
by  placer  mining,  and 
the  processes  for  ex- 
tracting it  from  its 
compounds  are  rather 
complex.  The  ores  of 
copper,  lead,  and  zinc 
are  smelted  at  a  high 
temperature  by 
methods  not  unlike 
those  used  in  the  case 
of  iron  (p.  208). 


Fig.   185.  —  A  mining  town,  Ouray,  Colorado. 


Mining  Districts  and  Towns.  —  Mining  communities  and  towns 
(Fig.  185)  are  liable  to  spring  up  in  unfavorable  and  inaccessible 
locations,  at  great  heights,  or  in  the  midst  of  a  desert.  They 
usually  produce  nothing  but  ore  and  are  dependent  upon  outside 
sources  for  everything  they  use. 


The  Comstock  lode,  near  Virginia  City,  Nev.,  yielded  between  i860  and 
1880  about  $360,000,000  in  gold  and  silver.  A  community  of  20,000  people 
was  supplied  with  food,  clothing,  materials,  and  machinery  from  California, 
by  a  wagon  road  162  miles  long  over  the  Sierra  Nevada. 

The  Leadvillc  district,  on  the  headwaters  of  the  Arkansas,  was  first  a 
placer  mining  camp.     Years  after  it  had  been  exhausted  and  abandoned, 


COMPAI^TIVE  VALUES  329 

immense  veins  of  lead  ore,  so  rich  in  silver  as  to  be  worth  a  dollar  a  pound, 
were  discovered,  and  it  became  the  largest  producer  of  silver  in  the  world, 
outside  of  Mexico.  A  well-built  city  at  an  elevation  of  10,000  feet,  provided 
with  all  urban  conveniences,  has  maintained  itself  by  these  mines  for  nearly 
40  years.  Silver  is  now  a  by-product,  being  exceeded  in  value  by  lead, 
copper,  and  zinc. 

The  Cripple  Creek  district,  near  Pikes  Peak,  10,000  feet  above  the  sea 
and  too  high  for  trees  or  bushes,  produced  in  the  first  ten  years  after  the 
discovery  of  gold  more  than  $120,000,000.  Over  200  mines  are  in  active 
operation  and  are  connected  by  electric  car  Hnes.  The  population  is  about 
10,000.  Leadville  and  Cripple  Creek  are  served  by  railroads  which  climb 
the  mountains  at  great  cost  to  carry  up  machinery  and  supplies,  and  to 
bring  down  ore  to  the  smelters  situated  on  the  plain. 

The  Butte  district  in  JMontana,  tirst  famed  for  placer  gold  and  later  for 
silver,  has  finally  come  to  produce  more  copper  than  any  other  district  in 
the  world,  and  supports  Butte,  a  city  of  43,000  people. 

The  Black  Hills,  on  the  border  of  Wyoming  and  South  Dakota  (p.  305), 
have,  in  consequence  of  elevation,  a  good  rainfall.  A  third  of  the  area  is 
covered  with  coniferous  forest  and  the  rest  is  good  grazing  land.  Erosion  has 
removed  much  of  the  original  rock  cover  and  exposed  a  mass  of  granite 
containing  veins  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  tin.  The  ores  are  of  low  grade, 
but  have  yielded  more  than  $100,000,000  worth  of  gold  and  silver,  and  are 
still  yielding  about  $7,000,000  a  year. 

More  recent  examples  of  towns  which  have  sprung  up  in  a  few  weeks  on 
account  of  the  discovery  of  rich  mines  are  Tonopah,  Goldfield,  and  Bullfrog 
in  the  desert  of  southern  Nevada.  Here  the  auto  truck  has  proved  itself 
superior  to  animal  power  and  competent  to  supply  rapidly  growing  com- 
munities 100  miles  from  a  railroad. 

Coal  and  Iron.  —  These  staple  minerals  are  not  wanting  in  the 
Interior  States,  but  are  of  small  importance  compared  with  the 
rarer  minerals.  Coal  is  mined  in  Colorado,  Wyoming,  Montana, 
and  New  Mexico,  but  has  given  rise  to  special  industries  only  at 
Pueblo,  Col.,  where  anthracite  and  iron  ore  in  the  mountains 
near  by  support  the  only  important  iron  and  steel  works  west  of 
the  Mississippi. 

Comparative  Values.  —  The  value  of  copper  exceeds  the  combined  value 
of  all  other  metals  mined  in  the  Interior  States.     Several  districts  in  Ari- 


330 


Tin-;    IXTKKIOR    S'lATHS:    MINING 


zoiui  give  thai  slate  lirsl  rank  in  topper  production,  iulloucfl  by  Montuna, 
Utah,  Michigan,  and  Nevada  [V])s,.  iS6). 

UNITED  STATES 1,235.569,727 

0  too  200  300  400  500 


Arizona 

llontana 

Utah. 

Michigan 

Nevada 

Kew  Mexico . 
All  others 


.-407,923,402 
...287,828.699 
....161,445,962 

135,853,409 

90.693,751 

56,308,706 

-._  95.515,798 


Fig.  i86. 


100  200  300  400  500 

Production  of  copper  (191,3),  liy  status,  in  millions  of  pounds. 


Gold  is  second  among  minerals,  with  Colorado  second  only  to  California 
in  value  of  product,  and  Nevada  third  (Fig.  187). 

Silver  holds  third  place  and  is  more  evenly  distributed.  It  is  important 
in  Nevada,  Montana,  Utah,  Idaho,  and  Colorado  (Fig.  187). 


.$88,884,400 


241.300 
109,700 
,201.300 
.977.400 
.214.200 
.101.400 
570.300 
320,900 
,147.900 
348.100 


UNITED  STATES... 
GOLD  0 

California 

Colorado 

Alaska. 

Nevada 

SouthDakota 

Arizona 

Utah.-.. 

Montana 

All  others 

UNITED  STATES 

SILVER  0 

Nevada  _ 
Montana .  _ 

Utah 

Idaho  

Colorado 
Arizona. 
New  Mexico 
All  others 

Fig.   187.  —  Production  of  gold  and  silver  (1913),  by  states,  in  millions  of  dollars. 


Lead  stands  fourth  among  metals,  of  which  more  than  half  comes  from 
Idaho. 

Arizona  and  Montana  produce  nearly  all  the  zinc. 

The  large  copper  output  of  Arizona  and  Montana  gives  them  the  lead  in 
total  value  of  mineral  products.  Colorado  and  Utah  stand  next  and  close 
together  with  the  greatest  diversity  of  minerals.  Nevada  heads  a  less 
important  group  by  virtue  of  copper,  gold,  and  silver.  The  rank  of  Idaho 
depends  upon  lead,  that  of  New  Mexico  upon  copper  and  coal,  while  Wyo- 


MININd    KCONOMY  33 1 

ming  ends  the  list  with  coal  and  petroleum  and  only  trilling  quantities  of 
metal.  The  foregoing  analysis  shows  clearly  the  wide  distribution  of 
mineral  wealth  in  the  Interior  States. 

Gold,  silver,  and  copper  are  necessary  to  the  welfare  of  ad- 
vanced peoples  and  are,  in  that  sense,  invaluable ;  but  the  actual 
market  value  of  those  metals  mined  in  the  United  States  is  less 
than  that  of  eggs.  Even  in  the  Interior  States,  where  the  mining 
of  the  rarer  and  nobler  metals  is  so  conspicuous,  the  value  of  out- 
put is  little  more  than  that  of  agriculture  and  herding,  and  less 
than  the  value  of  the  iron  of  the  Middle  West. 

Mining  Economy.  —  While  mining  and  mineral  industries  are 
essential  to  the  existence  of  industrial  civilization,  they  are,  in 
contrast  with  agriculture  and  herding,  collective  economies, 
wholly  destructive  of  natural  resources.  They  are  inroads  upon 
what  may  be  called  the  capital  stock  of  the  human  family  laid 
up  in  the  bank  of  the  earth  crust,  which  can  never  be  replaced. 
Their  products  are  "  economic  plunder." 

Mining  communities  and  towns  are  characterized  by  rapid  growth,  but 
their  economic  basis  is  uncertain.  This  is  especially  true  of  gold  and  silver 
mining.  Their  success  or  failure  cannot  be  foreseen.  The  large  rewards 
possible  for  the  few  and  the  losses  sure  to  befall  the  many  appeal  strongly 
to  the  gambling  instinct  and  favor  recklessness  and  violence.  Newly  dis- 
covered diggings  in  remote  regions  are  infested  with  professional  gamblers 
and  criminals  of  many  kinds  who  prey  upon  those  engaged  in  legitimate  busi- 
ness. The  usual  restraints  of  law,  social  custom,  and  domestic  relations  are 
absent,  and  every  such  community  passes  through  a  period  of  lawlessness 
and  savagery.  If  the  mines  hold  out,  capital  is  invested,  relations  are  es- 
tablished with  older  communities,  and  mining  life  becomes  settled  and  or- 
derly. A  mining  town,  based  on  a  single  resource,  may  endure,  like  Leadville, 
for  generations,  or  sink  into  insignificance,  like  Virginia  City.  No  vein  of 
ore  or  bed  of  coal  is  inexhaustible.  When  it  is  worked  out,  all  the  economic 
activity  and  human  life  dependent  upon  it  must  disappear  from  that  locality. 

In  mountainous  and  arid  regions  mining  is  a  pioneer  industry,  which  first 
attracts  population,  labor,  and  capital.  Agriculture,  manufactures,  and 
commerce  follow,  and  all  the  natural  resources  come  to  be  more  fully 
utilized. 


332 


THE    I\TI;RI()R    si  VIKS  :    MINING 


Summary.  The  broken  and  mountainous  ])arls  of  the 
Interior  Stales  contain  rich  \-eins  of  eoi)i)er,  gold,  and  silver. 
Mininj;  camps  and  towns  flourish  for  a  time  in  places  diflicult 
of  access  and  unfavorable  for  any  other  economy.     (See  Fig.  i88.) 

PER  CENT 


UNITED  STATES.. 

Silver 

Copper 

Gold 

Lead 

Zinc 

All  minerals 

Timber  and  lumber 


100 


0  10         20         30         40  50         60         70         80         90        100 

Fig.   i88.  —  Rank  of  Interior  States  in  mineral  and  forest  products.     (See  Table  IV, 

Appendix.) 


QUESTIONS 

1.  Put  a  mixture  of  sand,  gravel,  and  shot  in  a  pan  with  water  and  by 
rinsing  and  pouring  separate  the  sand  and  gravel  from  the  shot.  Whence 
came  the  expression  "  to  see  how  it  will  pan  out  "  ?     What  does  it  mean? 

2.  Why  is  gold  worth  about  $20  an  ounce  and  silver  about  60  cents? 

3.  If  the  total  quantity  of  gold  in  use  should  be  doubled  in  a  year,  would 
it  be  a  benefit  or  an  injury  to  mankind? 

4.  Why  is  gold  used  as  a  symbol  of  excellence  in  such  expressions  as 
"  golden  age,"  "  golden  opportunities,"  "  golden  opinions,"  "  golden  rule  "? 

5.  When  a  man  is  going  into  a  remote  and  uncivilized  country,  why  does 
he  carry  his  funds  in  gold  ? 

6.  Which  would  be  worth  more  to  a  man  left  alone  on  a  desert  island,  iron 
or  gold  ? 

7.  Why  is  a  community  based  on  mining  economy  in  many  cases  rough 
and  lawless?  why  shifting  and  uncertain? 


CHAPTER   XXVII 
THE    INTERIOR    STATES:   TRANSPORTATION   AND    CITIES 

Early  Methods  of  Transportation.  —  The  plateaus  and  moun- 
tains of  the  Interior  States  form  a  barrier  more  difficult  to  cross 
than  the  ocean.  The  traveler  from  the  east  faces  300  miles  of 
steppe,  300  miles  of  rugged  mountains,  400  miles  of  desert,  and  a 
second  mountain  barrier  7000  to  10,000  feet  high  before  reaching 
the  Pacific  slope.  The  largest  river,  the  Missouri,  comes  from 
the  north,  and  the  shallow  and  shifting  character  of  the  trunk 
stream  and  its  tributaries  makes  them  nearly  useless  as  water- 
ways. The  Colorado  flows  south  westward  through  impassable 
canyons.  In  the  northwest  the  Columbia  and  Snake  are  circui- 
tous and  broken  by  falls  and  rapids.  The  arid,  western  half 
of  the  United  States  is  almost  without  navigable  streams.  The 
smooth,  gently  sloping  surface  of  the  Great  Plains  is  favorable 
for  land  travel,  but  the  distances  are  long,  the  mountain  climbing 
is  difficult,  and  the  scarcity  of  food,  and  in  some  places  of  water, 
on  the  way,  constitutes  a  serious  obstacle. 

Between  1846  and  1850  a  great  migration  of  Mormons  to  Utah,  settlers 
to  Oregon,  and  gold  seekers  to  California  took  place  "  across  the  plains." 
The  main  "  emigrant  trails,"  starting  from  the  Missouri,  reached  Oregon  by 
the  valleys  of  the  Platte,  Snake,  and  Columbia ;  Great  Salt  Lake  by  the 
Platte  and  Sweetwater,  thence  to  California  by  the  Humboldt  ;  and  Santa  Fe 
by  the  Arkansas.  The  "  prairie  schooner,"  a  canvas-covered  wagon  drawn 
by  oxen,  was  the  home  of  men,  women,  and  children  on  the  move  for  five  or 
six  months  (Fig.  189).  The  number  of  these  transient  people  amounted  in 
some  years  to  250,000.  Ten  years  later  freight  caravans  of  25  or  more 
wagons,  each  carrying  about  8  tons  and  drawn  by  12  teams  of  mules  or  oxen, 
reached  Denver  in  about  a  month.  The  Overland  Mail  coach  carrying  17 
passengers  reached  San  Francisco  by  the  Santa  Fe  route  in  2,3  days,  and  later 

ELEM.  ECON.  GEOG.  —  20    333 


334      THE    INTERIOR   STATES  :   TRANSPORTATION   AND    CITIES 

b)'  the  Salt  Lake  route  in  17  days.  The  Pony  Express  carried  letters 
only  from  St.  Joseph,  Mo.,  to  San  Francisco  in  10  days.  Under  these  con- 
ditions, the  Pacitic  States  were  less  accessible  and  in  economic  relations 
more  foreign  than  Europe. 


A  train  of  prairie  schooners  crossing  the  plains. 


Railroads.  —  At  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  capitalists  were  in- 
duced by  a  liberal  grant  of  land  and  credit  from  the  Federal 
Government  to  undertake  the  construction  of  a  Pacitic  railroad, 
which  was  completed  in  1869  from  Omaha,  via  Salt  Lake  City,  to 
Sacramento.  Railroad  grading  across  the  plains  is  easy  and  in- 
expensive. In  crossing  the  mountains  all  the  skill  known  to 
engineering  and  a  large  expenditure  of  money  are  required  to 
lay  out  and  construct  practicable  lines.  The  general  plan  is  to 
follow  the  valley  of  a  stream,  in  many  cases  a  narrow  canyon,  as 
far  up  toward  the  crest  as  possible,  then  by  zigzags  and  loops  to 
reach  a  pass  or  a  ridge  narrow  enough  to  be  tunneled,  then  to 
descend  on  the  other  side  by  a  similar  route.  The  line  is  made 
as  long  as  possible  in  order  to  lessen  the  steepness  of  the  grade, 
but  in  some  places  very  heavy  engines  are  required  to  pull  a  few 
cars.  It  is  said  that  "  an  engine  can  be  made  to  go  anywhere 
a  mule  can,"  and  this  is  true  provided  there  is  money  enough  to 
pay  the  cost.     Some  of  the  most  daring  and  expensive  feats  of 


RAILROAD    SYSTEMS  335 

railroad  engineering  are  foun(i  in  the  Central  Rockies,  where  the 
Denver  and  Rio  Grande  and  other  lines  have  been  built  to  reach 
mining  camps  and  towns. 

Railroad  Systems.  —  There  are  now  seven  railroad  systems  in 
the  United  States  which  connect  the  Mississippi  or  the  Great 
Lakes  with  the  Pacific  coast.  Two  of  these  traverse  the  middle 
Interior  States,  crossing  the  Central  Rockies  where  they  are 
widest. 

The  Union  Pacific  and  the  Central  Pacific  formed  the  pioneer  line,  built 
from  Omaha  west  and  from  Sacramento  east  until  the  two  lines  met  at  Gre'at 
Salt  Lake.  It  follows  closely  the  route  of  the  Salt  Lake  trail,  touching 
Denver,  Cheyenne,  Salt  Lake  City,  Ogden,  and  Sacramento,  and  now  has  a 
branch  along  the  Oregon  trail  to  Portland. 

The  Missouri  Pacific,  the  Denver  and  Rio  Grande,  and  the  Western  Pacific 
form  a  connected  route  from  St.  Louis  to  San  Francisco,  parallel  with  the 
Linion  and  Central  Pacific  and  not  far  from  them.  It  crosses  the  mountains 
through  the  headwater  canyons  of  the  Arkansas  and  Colorado  rivers. 

Two  lines  follow  a  southern  route  crossing  the  plateaus  where  the  moun- 
tain barrier  is  narrow  and  less  difficult.  The  Atchison,  Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe, 
the  longest  of  the  Pacific  lines,  extends  from  Chicago  to  San  Francisco, 
following  the  Santa  Fe  trail  and  the  Overland  Coach  route,  via  Kansas  City, 
Pueblo,  and  Santa  Fe,  with  a  short  branch  to  the  Grand  Canyon  of  Arizona. 

The  Southern  Pacific  is  the  shortest,  crossing  the  continent  from  New 
Orleans  and  Galveston  to  Los  Angeles  and  San  Francisco,  touching  the 
Mexican  border  at  El  Paso  and  Yuma. 

Three  lines  cross  the  northern  states  from  Chicago,  Duluth,  and  St. 
Paul  to  Puget  Sound.  They  are  in  few  places  more  than  200  miles  apart, 
very  near  together  in  the  mountains  of  Idaho  and  intersecting  at  Spokane. 
They  cross  the  Great  Plains  where  they  are  widest  and  the  Northern  Rockies 
where  they  are  broken  by  the  headwaters  of  the  Yellowstone  and  Columbia. 
The  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  and  St.  Paul  takes  the  most  southerly  route  of  the 
three  as  far  as  the  Yellowstone  River.  The  Northern  Pacific  in  its  eastern 
part  is  midway  between  the  other  two,  passing  through  Fargo  and  Bismarck. 
It  follows  up  the  Yellowstone  to  Livingston,  where  a  branch  runs  to  the 
Yellowstone  National  Park.  The  Great  Northern  is  nowhere  far  from  the 
Canadian  boundary  and  skirts  the  edge  of  Glacier  National  Park.  It  is 
notable  for  a  score  of  short  branches,  reaching  northward  to  and  into 
Canada,  like  the  limbs  of  a  tree. 


336      THK    LNTI.KIOR    STATES:  TRANSPf)RT.\TION   AND    CITIES 


The  Canadian  Pacific,  scarcely  anywhere  more  than  loo  miles  north  of 
ihc  boundary  of  the  United  States,  crosses  the  continent  at  its  widest  part, 
from  Halifax  and  St.  John  to  Vancouver,  with  branches  to  Detroit,  Chicago, 
St.  Paul,  Dululh,  Spokane,  and  Seattle.  The  scenery  of  its  mountain  di- 
vision is  the  grandest  accessible  by  any  of  the  I'arifir  routes. 


'^'^^' ' 


Fig.   190.  —  A  railroad  in  Cimarron  Canyon,  Colorado. 

Railroad  Construction  and  Operation.  —  Many  conditions 
render  the  construction  and  operation  of  all  the  so-called  Pacific 
railroad  systems,  or  those  which  connect  the  Atlantic  division 
of  the  United  States  with  the  Pacific  coast,  difficult  and  costly. 
They  are  from  1500  to  3000  miles  long.     They  cross  two  great 


CITIES   AND   URBAN   POPULATION  337 

mountain  systems,  where  a  right  of  way  has  to  be  almost  Hterally 
hewn  out  of  soHd  rock,  and  where  steep  grades  and  sharp  curves 
require  powerful  locomotives  (Fig.  190).  The  northern  hnes  are 
often  blockaded  by  the  winter  snowfall,  and  the  southern  lines 
traverse  deserts  which  furnish  no  water.  All  suffer  from  lack 
of  fuel  for  motive  power.  Coal  in  Colorado,  Wyoming,  and  New 
Mexico,  lignite  in  Montana  and  Alberta,  and  petroleum  in 
Texas  and  California  make  their  operation  possible.  Most  of 
the  mileage  of  each  lies  in  regions  of  few  resources  and  sparse 
population.  The  local  freight  and  passenger  business  is  trifling 
compared  with  the  through  traf!ic  and  long  haul.  Therefore, 
freight  charges  are  high,  perhaps  higher  than  they  need  be  for  fair 
profits.  It  is  expected  that  the  competition  which  will  follow 
the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  may  compel  their  reduction. 

Scenic  Attractions.  —  Passenger  travel  is  greatly  increased  by  the  scenic 
attractions.  The  Grand  Canyon  of  Arizona,  the  Royal  Gorge  of  the  Arkan- 
sas, the  canyons  of  the  Gunnison  and  the  Grand,  the  peaks  and  "  parks  "  of 
Colorado,  the  geysers  and  falls  of  the  Yellowstone,  and  the  glaciers  and 
lakes  of  Glacier  Park  (Fig.  191)  are  among  the  most  valuable  resources 
and  assets  of  the  region,  a  fact  of  which  the  railroad  companies  are  fully 
aware.  The  pleasure  and  inspiration  derived  from  grand  scenery,  the  health 
and  vigor  found  in  mountain  and  desert  air,  the  chapters  of  the  earth's 
pre-human  history  read  in  the  cliffs  and  canyons,  have  values  which  cannot 
be  estimated  in  dollars.  Perhaps  the  plateaus,  mountains,  and  deserts  are 
worth  as  much  to  mankind  as  would  be  an  equal  area  of  corn  land. 

Cities  and  Urban  Population.  —  Natural  economic  conditions 
in  the  Interior  States  are  unfavorable  to  the  existence  of  large 
cities.  Out  of  18  cities  of  over  10,000  people,  there  are  only 
two  of  over  50,000  and  only  one  of  over  100,000.  In  four  states 
there  is  no  city  of  15,000,  yet  a  total  urban  population  of  64 
per  cent  emphasizes  the  general  sparseness.  The  density  of  popu- 
lation varies  from  7.68  to  the  square  mile  in  Colorado,  to  0.74 
in  Nevada,  with  an  average  for  the  region  of  3.  The  small  popu- 
lation is  partly  due  to  remoteness,  difficulty  of  access,  and  late 


^j,_^S    TiiK  i\ri;ki()R  sTATi:s  :   ik  wsi'oria  rioN  and  crriKS 


^^ 

1^ 

^....^^^^^^^^^^^^^Q^^^^^l 

Ht^^fe*    .^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BH^I 

mH^EC 

5pi^V|R^i 

i^^j^HH 

I^E                    Jk^'  '-^^B^^B 

^^B^^^Bk     ijt^^^                                 _^^l 

^^^^^^M.^^^Ek'                      <  -    "vHll^fl 

^BBH^H^j^ijQ^^t             ''^^1 

^.--    ^             --.^'..                       ^ 

^^     ^^  V  ipmiHB 

Fig.  iqi.  —  Scenery  in  Glacier  National  Park.     From  the  upper  lake  to  the  lower  the 

fall  is  1500  feet. 


settlement,  but  lack  of  water  will  probably  prevent  any  of  the 
Interior  States  from  ever  becoming  as  populous  as  those  of  the 
Atlantic  division.     (See  Fig.  37.) 

Denver  (253,000).  —  "The  Queen  City  of  the  Plains,"  the 
metropolis  of  the  Interior  States,  occupies  a  central  position  in 
their  area  and  economy.  It  is  midway  between  the  Mexican  and 
the  Canadian  boundary  and  200  miles  nearer  to  the  Missouri 


DENVER 


339 


River  than  to  the  Sierra  Nevada.  It  lies  at  the  western  edge  of 
the  Great  Plains  and  15  miles  from  the  front  range  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.     (See  Fig.  192.) 

The  city  had  its  birth  as  a  placer  mining  camp  on  the  South  Platte  River 
and  became  at  once  the  center  of  the  gold  diggings  in  the  Pikes  Peak  district. 


Fig.  192.  —  Denver. 


The  first  decade  of  this  pioneer  settlement,  500  miles  from  any  seat  of 
organized  government,  was  especially  stormy.  The  citizens  had  to  take 
the  law  into  their  own  hands  and  repress  gambling  and  crimes  of  violence 
by  a  band  of  volunteer  pohce  called  vigilantes.  The  organization  of  the 
territory  of  Colorado,  afterwards  admitted  as  a  state,  of  which  Denver 
became  the  capital,  and  the  construction  of  a  branch  from  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  in  1870,  brought  settled  and  orderly  conditions.  The  city  throve 
on  the  freighting  business  of  the  mines,  carried  on  at  first  by  wagon  (p.  333,), 


340      nil';    IXTKRIOR    states:   transportation   AM)    cnTKS 

and  ill  Icn  years  after  the  coming  of  the  railroad  multiplied  its  population 
by  seven. 

Denver  is  now  served  by  nine  railways,  of  which  three  are  trans- 
continental, two  others  connect  it  with  the  Middle  West,  and  the 
rest  form  a  network  reaching  every  important  mine.  Streams 
issuing  from  the  mountain  canyons  afford  many  opportunities  for 
irrigation.  Denver  is  a  market  for  grain,  fruit,  vegetables,  and 
live  stock  and  a  wholesale  distributing  center  for  several  states. 
The  value  of  products  from  a  great  variety  of  industries  is  over 
$50,000,000  a  year.  Slaughtering  and  meat  packing  and  the 
smelting  and  refining  of  lead  are  the  most  important. 

Native  building  stones  in  great  variety  give  substantial  and  im- 
posing character  to  the  buildings.  The  state  Capitol  of  granite 
and  marble  stands  at  an  elevation  of  exactly  one  mile  above  the 
sea.  Denver  is  a  center  for  travelers  attracted  by  the  healthful 
climate  and  beautiful  scenery  of  the  mountains,  and  the  tourist 
business  is  an  important  source  of  wealth. 

Other  Cities.  —  Pueblo  (53,000)  on  the  Arkansas,  120  miles  south  of 
Denver,  stands  in  front  of  the  principal  gateway  to  the  mountains  and  is  an 
important  manufacturing  city.  It  is  probably  the  greatest  center  for 
smelting  ores  in  the  United  States,  and  is  the  site  of  iron  and  steel  works 
which  have  given  it  the  name  of  "  the  Western  Pittsburgh." 

Colorado  Springs  (32,000),  at  the  foot  of  Pikes  Peak,  is  surrounded  by 
magnificent  scenery,  of  which  the  Garden  of  the  Gods  and  Monument  Park 
are  city  property.  The  streets  are  wide  and  well  shaded.  It  is  a  city  of 
residences  and  hotels,  and  the  chief  pleasure  and  health  resort  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains. 

Sail  Lake  Cily  (114,000),  "The  City  of  the  Saints,"  is  the 
only  city  in  the  United  States  which  owes  its  origin  directly  to 
a  religious  movement.  It  was  located  in  1847  at  the  foot  of  the 
Wasatch  Mountains,  10  miles  from  Great  Salt  Lake,  by  Brigham 
Young,  the  leader  of  the  Mormons,  who  foresaw  with  rare  dis- 
cernment the  possibilities  for  irrigation  in  the  desert  valley 
(p.  319).  The  first  settlers  grew  rich  by  outfitting  the  gold 
seekers  on  their  way  to  California  (p.  326).     It  has  been  from 


SUMMARY 


341 


the  first  the  headquarters  of  the  church  of  the  Latter-day 
Saints,  and  until  after  the  construction  of  the  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
road had  an  independent  government  controlled  by  the  church. 
Much  of  its  growth  has  been  due  to  the  immigration  of  Mormon 
converts  from  Europe. 
(See  Fig.  193.) 

The  city  is  laid  out  in 
squares  of  ten  acres,  sepa- 
rated by  streets  132  feet 
wide,  many  of  which  are 
bordered  by  trees  and 
streams  of  water  for  irriga- 
tion. The  most  prominent 
buildings  are  the  many 
spired  Mormon  Temple, 
to  which  no  "  gentiles  " 
are  admitted,  and  the 
elliptical  Tabernacle, 
which  seats  10,000  people. 
It  is  an  important  way 
station  on  two  Pacific 
railway  lines  and  is  the 
terminus  of  a  road  which 
traverses  the  heart  of  the 
desert  from  Los  Angeles. 
It  is  the  business  center  for 
the  irrigated  areas  of  the 
Jordan  valley  (p.  319),  for 
the  mining  districts  of  the 
Wasatch  and  other  ranges,  and  for  the  sheep  husbandry  of  the  Great  Basin. 

Butte  (43,000)  owes  its  existence  and  wealth  to  the  copper  mines  which 
surround  it  (p.  329).  Hydroelectric  power  is  supplied  to  mines  and  factories 
from  the  mountains.  The  sulphurous  fumes  from  the  smelters  which 
once  killed  all  vegetation  have  been  abated.  The  per  capita  wealth  of  the 
citizens  is  said  to  be  the  greatest  in  the  United  States. 


Fig.  193.  —  Salt  Lake  City  and  vicinity. 


Summary.  —  Mountainous  relief,  aridity,  scarcity  of  fuel,  and 
long  distances  in  the  Interior  States  make  transportation  difhcult 


342    TiiK  inti;ri()K  statics:  transportation  and  citiks 

and  costly.     The  same  conditions  render  the  population  sparse 
and  cities  few,  of  which  the  larger  are  mining  centers. 

Economic  Rank.  -  The  arid  regions  are  in  a  transition  state 
of  economic  development.  The  value  of  crops  grown  now  ex- 
ceeds that  of  cattle  and  sheep  sold.  Perhaps  one  fourth  of  the 
area  will  be  utiHzed  by  some  kind  of  agriculture.  The  Interior 
States  stand  in  a  peculiar  tributary  relation  to  the  humid  east, 
upon  which  they  depend  for  a  market  for  metals,  cattle,  and  wool. 
The  region  belongs  to  the  second  class  of  complex  economic 
societies  (p.  92),  and  it  is  probable  that  interior  position  and 
aridity  will  keep  it  in  a  stage  of  economic  youth. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Why  is  the  natural  barrier  between  the  Middle  West  and  the  Pacific 
States  greater  than  that  between  the  Eastern  States  and  Europe? 

2.  How  many  miles  an  hour  did  the  horses  of  the  Pony  Express  travel? 

3.  Why  do  people  who  travel  for  pleasure  go  in  greater  numbers  to  Europe 
than  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  Pacific  coast  ? 

4.  How  does  lack  of  water  prevent  dense  population?  Why  does  the 
western  half  of  the  United  States  look  so  different  from  the  eastern  half  on 
the  maps,  Figs.  29,  33,  34? 

5.  If  the  mines  of  Colorado  should  be  exhausted,  would  Denver  become 
an  unimportant  town  ? 

6.  Does  the  future  development  of  the  Interior  States  depend  more 
upon  the  growth  of  mining,  herding,  or  agriculture?     Why? 

7.  Are  scenery,  healthful  climate,  and  opportunities  for  geological  and 
botanical  research  natural  resources  of  economic  value? 

8.  Which  is  of  more  value  to  mankind,  the  Hudson  River  or  the  Colorado 
River?    Why? 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 
THE    PACIFIC    STATES 

Natural  Conditions.  —  The  three  states  which  border  the 
Pacific  Ocean  are  marked  by  diversity  of  reUef,  cHmate,  vegeta- 
tion, and  economic  products.  They  are  a  land  of  contrasts. 
(See  Figs.  29,  31,  32,  ^3,  34-  35-  172-) 

Within  their  boundaries  occur  the  highest  and  the  lowest  points 
of  land  in  the  United  States,  the  regions  of  greatest  and  of  least 
rainfall,  the  hottest  places  and  the  places  which  are  most  tem- 
perate, a  tract  of  absolute  desert,  and  an  area  of  almost  impene- 
trable forest.  The  sea,  the  desert,  palm  groves,  mountains,  fir 
forest,  and  summer  snows  are  visible  in  the  same  landscape.  Al- 
though they  extend  north  and  south  as  far  as  from  Maine  to 
Florida,  natural  conditions  vary  more  within  200  miles  of  the 
coast  than  they  do  throughout  their  whole  length.  This  is  due 
to  the  lofty  mountain  system  which  extends  parallel  with  the 
coast  and  renders  elevation  and  distance  from  the  sea  more  im- 
portant than  latitude.  Those  parts  which  lie  east  of  the  moun- 
tains belong  to  the  natural  region  of  the  Interior  States  (p.  303). 
The  narrow  strip  west  of  the  mountains  constitutes  a  natural 
region  by  itself,  sharply  distinguished  from  the  rest  of  the  country. 

The  resources  include  the  products  of  temperate  zone  rainfall 
and  of  tropical,  irrigated  desert,  the  pastures  of  steppe  and 
mountain,  the  timber  of  coniferous  forests,  and  some  of  the  richest 
metal-bearing  veins  in  North  America.  The  long  coast  line  faces 
the  Orient  from  Siberia  to  the  South  Seas,  and  the  Pacific  ports 
carry  on  a  growing  trade  with  Alaska,  Hawaii,  the  Philippines, 
Japan,  China,  India,  Australasia,  and  western  South  America. 

343 


344  THE   PAdFIC   STATES 

Area  and  Population.  CalilOiniu,  Oregon,  and  Washington 
comprise  about  i  i  per  cent  of  the  area  (Fig.  36)  of  the  United 
States  and  have  4.5  per  cent  of  the  poi)ulation,  with  an  average 
density  of  13  persons  to  the  square  mile.  About  half  this  area  lies 
in  the  arid  interior  region  and  has  a  sparse  population.  The  total 
population  is  less  than  that  of  Ohio.  In  })osition  and  climate  the 
Pacific  States  are  highly  favored.  Their  possibilities  are  limited 
by  mountainous  surface,  a  forbidding  coast,  narrowness  of  pro- 
ductive space,  poverty  of  hinterland,  and  1000  miles  of  desert, 
mountain,  and  steppe  between  them  and  the  rich  and  populous 
Atlantic  division. 

Relief.  —  The  Pacific  Cordillera.  —  The  coast  of  the  Pacific 
States  is  bordered  by  a  double  chain  of  mountains  with  a  central 
valley  between.  The  eastern  member,  about  150  miles  inland,  con- 
sists of  a  single,  continuous  chain  about  50  miles  wide,  which  rivals 
the  Rocky  Mountains  in  height.  In  Washington  and  Oregon 
the  Cascade  Range  is  chiefly  of  volcanic  origin  and  contains  many 
peaks  rising  above  10,000  feet,  of  which  Rainier,  Shasta,  Hood, 
and  Lassen  are  symmetrical  cones,  the  last  an  active  volcano. 
The  range  is  cut  in  two  by  the  Columbia  River.  The  Sierra 
Nevada  in  California  is  a  single,  massive,  tilted  block  with  a  very 
steep  slope  on  the  east.  The  highest  point  in  its  even  crest,  and 
the  highest  in  the  United  States,  is  Mt.  Whitney,  14,500  feet. 
There  are  few  passes  lower  than  7000  feet.  The  southern  end 
curves  westward  and  joins  the  Coast  Range  200  miles  north  of 
the  Mexican  boundary.  The  western  member  of  the  Pacific 
mountain  system  consists  of  the  Coast  Ranges,  which  are  lower 
and  far  less  massive  than  the  eastern.  They  extend  from  the 
Strait  of  Fuca  to  Lower  California.  They  are  widest  in  Cali- 
fornia, low  and  simple  in  Oregon,  and  highest  in  northwestern 
Washington,  where  the  Olympic  Mountains  reach  8000  feet. 
They  are  cut  through  by  the  Columbia  and  Sacramento  rivers, 
and  many  smaller  streams. 

The  Intermont   Valley.  —  The  long  valley  between  the  two 


CLIMATE  345 

mountain  systems  is  not  continuous  but  divided  by  the  Klamath 
Plateau  in  Oregon  and  California.  The  northern  part  is  occu- 
pied in  Washington  by  Puget  Sound  and  in  Oregon  by  the  valley 
of  the  Willamette  River.  The  southern  part  forms  the  great 
central  valley  of  California,  450  miles  long  and  50  miles  wide, 
an  area  about  half  as  large  as  Pennsylvania. 

The  Intennout  Plateaus.  —  In  northern  Washington  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains extend  westward  to  the  Cascade  Range.  The  southeastern  third  of 
thai  state  and  the  eastern  half  of  Oregon  lie  on  the  Columbia  Plateau 
(p.  308).  Northeastern  and  southeastern  Cahfornia  form  a  part  of  the  Great 
Basin  (p.  308),  in  which  two  depressions,  Death  valley  and  Salton  Sink,  are 
nearly  300  feet  below  sea  level. 

Coast  line.  —  The  Pacific  coast  is  high,  steep,  and  smooth,  with 
long  lines  of  clilTs  and  a  few  small,  shallow  bays.  There  are  three 
great  inlets.  At  the  north  the  Strait  of  Fuca  admits  the  sea 
about  100  miles  inland.  From  its  eastern  end  Puget  Sound 
opens  southward  75  miles,  and  with  its  arms  affords  about  2500 
miles  of  shore  line  and  many  deep,  protected  harbors.  The 
lower  Columbia  River  is  wide  and  navigable  for  ocean  vessels 
112  miles  to  Portland.  Midway  of  the  coast  line,  the  Golden 
Gate  leads  into  San  Francisco  Bay,  one  of  the  finest  harbors  in 
the  world.  Near  the  Mexican  boundary  a  bar  incloses  the  small 
but  commodious  bay  of  San  Diego. 

Climate.  —  The  climate  of  the  Pacific  States  is  as  varied  as  their 
relief.  The  prevailing  westerly  winds  from  the  Pacific,  cool  in 
summer  and  warm  in  winter,  bring  to  the  coast  lands  a  mild, 
oceanic  climate,  modified  in  the  north  by  cyclonic  disturbances. 
The  temperature  varies  from  west  to  east  more  rapidly  than  from 
south  to  north.  On  the  southern  lowlands  frost  is  rare,  and 
southeastern  California  is  one  of  the  hottest  regions  in  the  world. 
On  the  mountains  winter  temperatures  fall  to  -30°.  The  rain- 
fall increases  from  less  than  10  inches  in  the  south  to  more  than 
100  inches  in  the  north,  with  a  large  excess  in  winter.  The 
summers  in  the  south  are  almost  rainless.     On  the  northern 


346  THE   PACIFIC   STATES 

Sierra  Nevada  the  rainfall  increases  from  24  inches  at  Sacramento 
to  50  inches  at  the  summit  and  falls  to  6  inches  within  50  miles 
east  in  the  Great  Basin.  Most  of  California  south  of  San 
F'rancisco  has  less  than  20  inches  and  the  Mohave  and  Colorado 
deserts  in  the  southeast  are  nearly  rainless.  The  snowfall  on 
the  mountain  summits  amounts  in  some  places  to  40  feet  and 
the  highest  peaks  support  permanent  snowfields  and  glaciers. 

Vegetation.  —  The  heavy  rainfall  of  the  mountains  and 
northern  valleys  supports  a  coniferous  forest  of  unrivaled  den- 
sity and  value,  covering  about  one  third  of  the  area  of  the  Pacific 
States.  In  the  Great  Valley  and  on  the  southern  coast  lands  of 
California  the  peculiar  dry  forest,  characteristic  of  subtropical 
regions  with  dry  summers,  prevails  (p.  66).  East  of  the  moun- 
tains only  a  scant  desert  vegetation  can  exist,  a  large  part  of 
which  in  Oregon  is  made  up  of  sage  brush.  The  climate  of  the 
Pacific  coast  belt  permits  northern  and  southern  plants  to  over- 
lap and  intermingle,  resulting  in  an  astonishing  number  and 
variety  of  species. 

Drainage.  —  The  Columbia,  flowing  from  the  seaward,  rainy 
side  of  the  northern  Rocky  Mountains,  is  by  far  the  largest  river 
of  the  region.  The  main  stream  winds  circuitously  through 
canyons  in  the  lava  plateau  to  the  mouth  of  the  Snake  River, 
then  turns  westward,  cuts  through  the  Cascade  and  Coast  ranges 
and  reaches  the  sea  with  a  width  of  five  miles.  Canals  around 
the  rapids  make  it  navigable  for  about  500  miles  from  the  ocean. 
The  valley  of  California  is  drained  by  the  Sacramento  and  San 
Joaquin  rivers  to  San  Francisco  Bay.  Their  many  tributaries 
from  the  Sierra  have  very  rapid  fall  and  a  fairly  constant  volume, 
and  are  used  for  power  in  mining  and  for  irrigation.  East  of  the 
mountains  and  south  of  the  Columbia  basin  the  streams  are 
small  and  empty  into  "  sinks  "  or  salt  lakes.  The  Coast  Ranges 
give  rise  to  many  small  rivers  flowing  to  the  Pacific. 

Economic  Development.  —  In  the  development  of  the  Pacific 
States,  herding,  mining  (Fig.  194),  cereal  agriculture,  horticulture, 


ECONOMIC   DEVELOPMENT 


347 


and  lumbering  have  become  prominent  one  after  the  other.  No 
one  of  these  economies  has  displaced  those  which  preceded  it  and 
each  maintains  its  impor- 
tance in  the  present  Ufc  of 
the  region. 

Under  Spanish  occupation 
stock  raising  was  almost  the 
only  business,  and  cattle, 
horses,  and  sheep  multiplied 
on  vast  estates.  Hides  and 
tallow  were  the  chief  prod- 
ucts. After  a  severe  drought 
in  1862-4  cattle  ranching  de- 
clined and  wool-growing 
sheep  increased  in  number 
until  the  ranges  and  forest 
pastures  were  in  danger  of 
destruction.  They  are  most 
numerous  on  the  dry  plains 
of  eastern  Oregon  (Fig.  176). 
After  1848,  under  American 
control,  wheat  raising  on 
ranches  of  5000  to  50,000 
acres  became  prominent,  es- 
pecially in  the  northern  part 
of  the  valley  of  California. 
Here  the  level  land  and  the 
absence  of  summer  rain  per- 
mit the  use  of  machinery  on 
a  grand  scale.  The  ground 
is  prepared  by  gangs  of  steam 
plows,  and  harvesters  drawn 


Fig.   194.  —  A  gold  mine. 


by  30  horses  cut  and  thrash  the  grain  and  leave  it  in  sacks.  Only  a  few 
such  farms  now  remain,  most  of  them  having  been  divided  into  small 
holdings.  The  principal  wheat  region  has  shifted  to  southeastern 
Washington,  where  about  six  times  as  much  wheat  is  raised  as  in  California. 

With   the   spread   of   irrigation   since    1880,    vegetables   and 
fruits  grown  on  small  holdings  have  become  more  prominent 


348  THE   PACIFIC   STATES 

than  li\'c  stock,  f^old,  or  jjjrain.  While  ihc  i)rcscnt  is  iiii  era  of 
fruil  in  the  south  and  luml)C"r  in  the  north,  the  persistence  of  all 
makes  a  well-bakmced  chversit}-  of  products,  with  a  correspond- 
ing activity  in  manufacture  and  commerce. 

Summary.  —  Location  in  a  narrow  strip  along  the  Pacific  coast, 
distance  from  the  Atlantic  division,  and  extremes  of  relief, 
climate,  and  vegetation,  combine  to  set  apart  the  Pacific  States  as 
a  distinct  and  peculiar  economic  region. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Of  what  value  to  the  Pacific  Slates  arc  the  Coast  Ranges?  the 
Cascade  Mountains  and  the  Sierra  Nevada  ? 

2.  Why  do  the  isotherms  in  Fig.  31  extend  parallel  with  the  Pacific 
coast  ? 

3.  How  does  the  Pacific  coast  of  the  United  States  compare  with  the  At- 
lantic coast  in  (a)  outline,  (b)  elevation,  (c)  climate,  {d)  advantages  for 
commerce  ? 

4.  Why  is  commerce  with  Asia  less  than  with  Europe  ? 

5.  Will  there  ever  be  on  the  Pacific  coast  four  large  cities  as  near  together 
as  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore?     Why? 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

THE    PACIFIC    STATES:    COLLECTIVE    AND    PRODUCTIVE 

INDUSTRIES 

Agriculture.  —  The  Pacific  States  have  a  great  variety  of  soils. 
Western  Washington  was  covered  by  the  ice  sheet  from  Canada 
and  its  soils  are  glacial.  The  soils  of  the  Columbia  Plateau  are 
of  volcanic  ash  or  decomposed  lava.  Over  large  areas  they  are 
deep,  fine,  easily  worked,  and  rich  in  plant  food,  but  in  some  dis- 
tricts are  alkahne.  Wherever  rainfall  or  irrigation  water  is  suffi- 
cient, large  crops  can  be  raised  for  years  without  fertilizers. 
About  one  fourth  of  the  area  of  the  Pacific  States  is  included 
in  farms,  but  only  5  per  cent  is  improved  land  (Fig.  195).     Most 


UNITED  STATES H 

Oranges 

Grapes 

Barley 

Orchard  fruits 

Wool 

Sheep 

Wheat.- 

All  crops 

All  animal  products 
All  farm  products 
Farm  property 
Improved  land 


PER  CENT 

40  50  60 


]00 


Fig.  195.  —  Rank    of    Pacific    States    in    farms    and    farm    products.     (See   Table  III, 

.Appendix.) 

of  the  land  available  for  agriculture  without  irrigation  lies  in  the 
Intermont  Valley  north  of  San  Francisco.  The  valleys  of  the 
Coast  Ranges  and  portions  of  the  Columbia  Plateau  are  moist 
and  arable.  Of  the  crops  grown  without  irrigation,  hay  has  the 
greatest  value,  and  wheat  is  the  most  important  grain,  amounting 


ELKM.    F.CON.    GKOG. —  21 


349 


3  so 


TUi:    I'ACIFIC    STATKS:    INDUSTRIES 


to  one  tenth  of  the  crop  ol"  the  United  States.  About  two  thirds 
of  it  comes  from  southeastern  Washinj^ton.  Barley  is  a  notable 
crop  in  California  and  hops  in  Oregon.  Of  the  3,000,000  cattle 
on  farms  nearly  one  third  are  milch  cows  and  dairying  is  a 
growing  industry.  In  the  arid  regions  east  of  the  Cascade 
Mountains,  cattle  and  sheep  ranching  are  the  principal  occupa- 
tions, but  both  have  declined  with  the  extension  of  agriculture. 
Large  herds  of  cattle  are  kept  also  on  the  coast  lands  which 
are  too  wet  for  cultivation. 

Irrigated  Lands.  —  The  Pacific  States  contain  more  than  one 
fourth  of  all  the  irrigated  land  in  the  United  States.     California 

was  the  pioneer  state 
and  now  is  exceeded 
only  by  Colorado  in 
irrigated  acreage. 

Among  Federal  rec- 
lamation works  partly 
completed,  the  largest  are 
the  Klamath  project  in 
Oregon  and  California, 
180,000  acres,  and  the 
Yakima  project  in  Wash- 
ington, 600,000  acres 
(Fig.  181).  On  irrigated 
lands  in  the  north,  alfalfa, 
grain,  and  vegetables  are 
grown.  In  Oregon  and 
Washington,  orchard 
fruits,  especially  apples, 
are  very  prolific  and  of 
superior  size  and  beauty. 
Natural  facilities  for  ir- 
rigation extend  along  the 
whole  length  of  the  Great  Valley,  where  streams  a  few  miles  apart  descend 
from  the  Sierras  and  emerge  from  canyons  upon  the  plain.  Each  has  built 
a  fan-shaped  pile  of  alluvial  material  which  slopes  from  the  canyon  mouth 
to  a  convex   margin.     By  the  meeting  of   adjacent   fans  an  almost  con- 


FiG.  196.  —  An  irrigated  orange  grove  in  California.     The 
water  is  being  let  out  of  the  canal  into  the  ditches. 


GRAPES  351 

tinuous  alluvial  plain  has  been  formed  along  the  mountain  foot,  over  which 
water  can  be  distributed  at  will.  Southern  California  is  irrigated  largely 
from  wells,  but  the  ground  water  is  derived  from  the  rainfall  on  the 
mountains. 

California  is  one  of  the  great  fruit  growing  regions  of  the 
world  and  in  this  has  no  rival  among  the  states  of  the  Union. 
This  is  a  direct  response  to  the  pecuHar  climate  which  resembles 
that  of  the  Mediterranean  region  (p.  67).  The  mild  winters, 
the  absence  of  frost,  the  long  dry  summers,  and  the  sunshine 
of  200  to  250  days  in  the  year  furnish  the  conditions  for  the  ripen- 
ing of  subtropical  and  tropical  fruits,  and  only  soil  water  is  needed 
to  make  them  luxuriant  (Fig.  196). 

Oranges.  —  The  value  of  oranges  exceeds  that  of  any  other 
fruit.  The  variety  known  as  the  seedless  Washington  navel 
holds  first  rank.  The  trees  ripen  fruit  all  the  year  around.  As 
many  as  16  million  boxes,  valued  at  as  many  dollars,  and  filling 
40,000  cars,  have  been  shipped  in  a  single  year. 

Orange  culture  partakes  somewhat  of  the  hazardous  nature  of  gold 
mining.  The  large  rewards  of  success  tempt  people  to  venture  without  suf- 
ficient capital,  knowledge,  or  facilities.  In  good  years  a  surplus  is  liable 
to  occur  with  resulting  low  prices  or  lack  of  market.  Markets  for  California 
fruit  are  found  chiefly  in  the  Eastern  States.  This  demands  a  long  and  ex- 
pensive haul  in  refrigerator  cars.  High  freight  rates  have  compelled  growers 
to  let  their  fruit  rot  on  the  ground.  An  occasional  freeze,  such  as  that  of 
January,  1913,  may  cause  a  loss  of  many  million  dollars.  Orange  groves 
are  generally  provided  with  some  means  of  artificial  heat.  Open  fires,  hot- 
water  pipes,  or  the  dense  smoke  from  burning  petroleum  may  save  the  or- 
chards from  injury.  The  problems  of  irrigation,  protection,  packing, 
and  marketing  fruit  demand  a  high  degree  of  intelligent  cooperation  and 
exert  wide  social,  economic,  and  political  influence. 

Grapes.  —  California  produces  nearly  as  many  grapes  as  all 
the  rest  of  the  United  States.  There  are  varieties  adapted  to 
nearly  every  soil  and  situation  in  the  state,  some  of  which  do 
best  on  unirrigated  land.  The  crop  is  about  equally  divided 
between  wine  grapes  and  raisin  grapes.     California  wines  are 


35- 


THE    PACIFIC   STATES:    INDUSTRIES 


famous  all  over  the  world  but  are  sold  largely  under  French 
labels.     Raisins  are  made  by  drying  sweet  grapes  in  the  sun. 

Other  Fruits.  —  California  supplies  the  mari<.el  of  the  United  Stales  with 
dried  plums  (called  prunes)  and  apricots,  and  canned  peaches,  i)ears,  cherries, 
apricots,  and  nectarines,  all  of  the  l)est  quality.  Those  pecuHarly  Mediter- 
ranean and  tropical  fruits,  olives,  figs,  dates,  pomegranates,  and  almonds, 
do  well  in  many  parts  of  the  state.  Southern  California,  with  portions 
of  Arizona,  enjoys  those  tropical  conditions  which  the  United  States  needs 
and  generally  lacks  to  make  the  range  of  its  domestic  resources  complete. 

Fisheries.  —  The  salmon  of  the  Pacific  coast  furnished  to  the 
Indians  a  food  supply  as  abundant  and  easily  secured  as  the  coco- 
nuts and  breadfruit  of  tropical  islands  (p.  20).  In  the  spring 
these  fish  ascend  the  rivers  from  the  sea  in  enormous  numbers, 
taking  no  food  during  the  journey  of  perhaps  1000  miles  to  the 
lakes  where   they  spawn.     Only   the  young  fry  ever  descend, 


Fig.   197.  —  Salmon  fishing,  Washington. 


MINERALS   AND    MINING 


353 


floating  downstream  tail  iirst.  The  adult  fish,  weighing  from  lo 
to  75  pounds,  are  caught  with  wheels,  nets,  and  hooks,  and 
canned  (Fig.  197).  The  catch  was  at  one  time  so  large  as  to 
threaten  the  species  with  extinction.  State  laws  for  the  regu- 
lation of  fishing  and  the  work  of  the  United  States  Bureau  of 
Fisheries  in  restocking  have  restored  the  rivers  to  something  like 
their  original  abundance. 

Minerals  and  Mining.  —  Gold.  —  The  name  Calfornia  is  more 
closelv  associated  with  gold  than  anv  other  in  America.     The 


Fig.   iq8.  —  A  dredge  excavating  gravel  for  gold,  California. 

discovery  of  gold  in  a  mill  race  in  the  Sacramento  valley  in  1848 
was  one  of  the  great  events  of  American  history.  It  caused  a 
rush  of  100,000  emigrants  from  the  east  in  one  year,  half  of  them 
going  overland.  Diggings  on  the  streams  flowing  from  the  Sierra 
which  yielded  to  the  miner  $500  to  $5000  a  day  were  not  unusual. 
In  the  first  ten  years  more  than  $500,000,000  was  taken  out. 
The  surface  placers  were  first  exhausted.  Many  old  valleys 
filled  with  gravel  and  buried  under  lava  flows  were  blasted  and 
washed  out  by  the  hydrauhc  process  (Fig.  184) .     The  mother  lode 


354 


THE    PACIFIC   STATES:    INDUSTRIES 


was  located  and  ()|)('iu'd  aloni^  tin-  Sierra  for  150  miles  and  slill 
}'ields  about  $10,000,000  a  year.  Nearly  as  much  more  is  ob- 
tained by  excavating  alluvial  lands  by  means  of  dredges  which 
bring  up  gravel  from  depths  down  to  70  feet  (Fig.  198).  Mining 
operations  are  carried  on  by  hydroelectric  power  and  the  whole 
region  is  covered  by  a  network  of  cables  for  transmitting  elec- 
tricity from  power  houses  to  mines.  California  is  the  leading 
state  in  the  production  of  gold,  yielding  nearly  one  fourth  of 
the  total  for  the  United  States  (Fig.  187). 

Copper  from  the  Klamath  Mountains,  smelted  with  coke  from  Australia, 
is  second  in  value  among  metals.  The  Coast  Ranges  near  San  Francisco 
have  long  been  one  of  the  world's  few  sources  of  mercury.  About  3,000,000 
tons  of  coal  are  mined  in  central  Washington.  The  general  lack  of  coal  is 
made  less  serious  by  the  great  number  of  streams  which  supply  hydroelectric 
power  to  mines  and  cities. 

Petroleum.  —  Several  very  rich  fields  in  southern  California 
give  that  state  first  rank  in  quantity  of  petroleum  produced, 
amounting  to  about  two  fifths  of  the  output  of  the  United  States 
(Fig.  199).     Its  composition  is  so  diffierent  from  that  of  eastern 


UNITED  STATES 


Oklahoma  -  - 


Illinois 

Texas 

Louisiana 

West  Virginia- 
Ohio  

Pennsylvania- - 
All  others 


10  20 

I  Amount  in  barrels 


Bbls.  218.446, 
$237,121, 
50 

97.788, 
45,709, 

p 63,579, 

59.581, 

23.893, 

30,971, 

15,099, 

14,675, 

12.498, 

12,255, 

11,567, 

28.828, 

8,781, 

17,538, 

7,963, 

19,805, 

7.274, 

7.753, 


40  50 

]  Value  in  dollars 


230 
388 


Fig.  igg. 


Production    of   petroleum   (1913),  by  states,  in  millions    of  barrels   and 
millions  of  dollars. 


LUMBERING 


355 


oil  that  its  value  is  only  about  one  half  as  much.  It  takes  the 
place  of  coal  in  locomotive  engines  and,  as  used  in  recently  in- 
vented marine  engines,  forms  the  cheapest  source  of  power  for 
water  transportation  in  the  world. 

Nearly  all  the  borax  of  the  country  comes  from  the  waterless  Death  valley. 
The  20-mule  teams  which  once  hauled  it  in  wagons  to  the  railroad  are  now 
displaced  by  motor  trucks.  The  total  value  of  minerals  in  the  Pacific 
States  is  less  than  half  that  of  farm  crops. 

Lumbering.  —  The  Pacific  States  contain  the  most  valuable 
coniferous  forest  in  the  world.     It  covers  more  than  one  third  of 


joo.  -     Fir  trees  in  the  Washington  forest. 


the  total  area  and  is  distributed  strictly  according  to  rainfall. 
The  Coast  Ranges  north  of  San  Francisco,  the  seaward  slopes  of 
the  Cascades  and  Sierra  up  to  10,000  feet,  and  part  of  the  north- 
ern valley  are  heavily  wooded  (Fig.  61).  The  treeless  tracts  are 
confined  to  areas  of  less  than  20  inches  of  rainfall.  The  most 
important  tree  is  the  Douglas  fir,  often  called  Oregon  pine, 
which  grows  to  a  height  of  300  feet.     Cedar,  hemlock,  pine,  and 


356 


THK  pach'r:  statks:  industriks 


Ur  of  many  species  form  a  lower  but  dense  growtli.  In  number  of 
species  and  size  and  beauty  of  trees,  this  surpasses  all  other  co- 
niferous forests  known.  The  yield  of  timber  is  in  many  cases  ten 
times  as  much  per  acre  as  that  from  the  eastern  forests  (Fig.  200). 

In  California  there  are  small  areas  of  two  peculiar  and  remarkable  species. 
About  ^000  square  miles  of  the  ("oast  Range  are  occupied  by  redwood  trees 
which  are  often  10  to  15  feet  in  diameter  and  200  feel  to  the  lowest  limb. 
They  stand  so  close  that  a  wagon  can  hardly  be  driven  between  them. 
Single  acres  have  yielded  1,500,000  board  feet  of  lumber,  and  single  trees 
100,000  feet.  The  wood  rivals  the  white  pine  (p.  140)  in  lightness,  dura- 
bility, grain,  and  ease  of  working,  and  is  superior  to  it  in  beauty  of  color.  The 
famous  "  big  trees  "  occur  in  scatterc^l  groves  on  the  Sierra  slope.  Some  are 
25  feci  in  diameter,  300  feet  high,  and  2500  years  old.  Most  of  them  are 
protected  in  national  or  state  reservations.  To  fell  the  immense  trees 
of  the  Pacific  forest,  to  cut  and  transport  the  logs,  and  to  saw  them 
into  merchantable  lumber  require  extraordinary  methods  and  machinery. 
The  work  has  been  carried  on  in  a  wasteful  manner,  but  better  methods  now 
prevail.     (See  Fig.  201.) 


Fig.  201.  — Logging  in  Washington  forest. 


CLIMATE   AND    SCENERY 


357 


A  great  deal  of  lumber  is  exported  in  sailing  vessels  to  South 
America,  Japan,  Australia,  and  even  to  South  Africa  and  Europe. 
The  scarcity  and  high  price  of  lumber  in  the  Eastern  States  are 
now  sufficient  to  overcome  the  cost  of  the  long  haul  by  rail,  and 
Pacific  coast  stuff  goes  into  the  construction  of  houses  throughout 
the  Middle  West.  The  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  furnishes 
a  new  and  cheaper  outlet  for  lumber  from  the  Pacific  States  to 
the  Eastern  States.  The  Pacific  States  supply  about  21  per  cent 
of  the  lumber  products  of  the  United  States,  exceeding  the 
other  forest  districts  except  the  southern,  with  the  certainty  of  an 
indefinitely  large  increase  in  the  future.  Nearly  three  fourths 
of  the  Pacific  forest  area  is  included  in  National  Forest  Reserves 
which  are  protected  from  fire  by  an  efficient  force  of  forest  rangers. 
Washington  leads  all  states  in  lumber  resources  and  production 
(Fig.  202).     For  many  years  to  come  lumber  and  fruit  will  com- 


UNITED  STATES 38,386.973 


592,053 
161,560 
610,581 
098,467 
081,471 
957,258 
911,647 
523,936 
493,353 
273,953 
249,559 
222,983 
183,380 
149,704 
055,017 


D                      1 

I 

3 

\ 

3 

4 

■^ 

4 

^^^ 

2 

Oregon^ 

Texas 

^ 

2 

2 

North  Carolina.-  - 

California _ 

-1. 

Minnesota     , 

Florida. . 

f--8. 

■^■^ 

822,021 


Fig.  202.  —  Production  of  lumber  (1913),  by  states,  in  millions  of  M  feet.     (See  Table  VI, 

Appendix.) 

pete  for  supremacy  in  the  economy  of  the  Pacific  States.  Both  are 
responses  to  the  wonderful  climate,  one  direct  and  spontaneous, 
and  the  other  through  the  exercise  of  expert  human  knowledge. 
Climate  and  Scenery.  —  Not  least  among  the  natural  resources 
of  the  Pacific  States  must  be  reckoned  their  climate  and  scenery 


358 


Till';  I'Aciiic  STA  ri:s :  ixdustries 


as  they  directly  inlluence  human  life.  Mountains,  forests,  des- 
erts, and  coast  furnish  sonic  of  the  finest  scenery  in  the  world. 
Many  forest-clad  peaks  of  the  Cascades  loom  up  from  sea  level 
to  perpetual  snow  in  full  view  with  large  and  clear  outlines. 
The  high  Sierra,  "  with  spreading  ridge  and  foothill,  rises  like 
some  huge,  sprawling  monster,  its  granite  back  unbroken  for  a 
thousand  miles."  Of  the  profound  canyons  of  the  western  slope, 
those  of  the  Yosemite  (Fig.  203),  Hetch  Hetchy,  and  Kings  River 
are  among  the  grandest  and  most  impressive  in  the  world. 


Fig.   203.  —  Yosemite  valley,  California.     Bridal  V'eil  fall  on  the  risht. 


The  frequent  and  extreme  changes  of  weather  characteristic 
of  the  Eastern  States  are  generally  absent.  Uniformity  is  the 
rule  and  the  weather  is  predictable  for  a  long  period  in  advance. 
The  summer  is  an  unbroken  succession  of  sunny  days.  On 
account  of  the  dryness  of  the  air  the  heat  is  not  oppressive  and 


QUESTIONS 


359 


a  sea  or  mountain  breeze  brings  cool  nights.  Even  in  winter 
houses  are  not  needed  primarily  for  shelter,  and  tires  are  not 
essential  for  comfort.  The  air  is  mild  but  stimulating  and 
outdoor  life  is  very  attractive.  The  luxuriance  of  natural  and 
irrigated  vegetation  is  largely  under  human  control.  The 
conditions  of  life,  especially  in  the  coast  lands  of  southern 
California,  are  among  the  most  enjoyable  in  the  world.  No 
region  deserves  wider  fame  as  a  health  and  pleasure  resort, 
and  many  visitors  yield  to  the  temptation  to  make  there  a 
permanent  home. 

Summary.  —  So  much  of  the  Pacific  States  is  occupied  by 
mountains,  forests,  and  desert,  that  general  agriculture  cannot 
play  a  large  part  in  their  economy.  The  climate  is  very  favorable 
for  fruit  growing.  Other  abundant  resources  are  gold,  petro- 
leum, and  timber.     (See  Fig.  204.) 


PER  CENT 
UNITED  STATES      _  _     0  10  20  30  40  50         60 

Peti'oleum  (quantity) 
Petroleum  (value) 

Gold 

Cement 

All  minerals- 
Timber  and  lumber. 

Fig.  204. — Rank  of    Pacific   States  in    minerals   and    forest    products. 

Appendix.) 


100 


80         90        100 
(See  Table  IV, 


QUESTIONS 

1.  What  natural  advantages  for  irrigation  exist  in  the  Pacific  States? 

2.  How  will  the  Panama  Canal  help  the  orange  growers  of  California? 

3.  What  has  politics  to  do  with  fruit  growing  in  California? 

4.  Why  do  some  people  refuse  to  raise  wine  grapes  ? 

5.  Were  the  Pacific  coast  Indians  equal  in  ability  to  those  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains?     What  are  the  economic  reasons  for  the  difference? 

6.  What  effect  have  the  abundance  and  low  cost  of  petroleum  upon  Pacific 
coast  shipping  and  commerce? 

7.  In  view  of  the  scarcity  and  high  price  of  lumber" in  the  Central  and 
Eastern  States,  is  the  exportation  of  it  from  the  Pacific  coast  to  foreign 
countries  economically  justifiable? 


360  TIIK    I'ACIIIC    S'lATKS:    INDUSTRIES 

8.  What  arc  the  advantages  of  government  control  of  forests? 

().  Wlial  geograi)hical  and  economic  reasons  exist  for  the  |)olilicaI  separa- 
tion of  the  I'acil'ic  States  from  the  United  Stales?  for  their  union  with  the 
United  Slates? 

10.  Which  is  of  greatest  permanent  value  to  the  Pacific  Stales,  mines, 
forests,  climate,  or  coast  line? 


CHAPTER   XXX 


THE  PACIFIC  STATES 


MANUFACTURES,  COMMERCE,  AND 
CITIES 


Manufactures.  —  The  comparative  isolation  of  the  Pacific 
States  has  fostered  home  industries.  The  lack  of  coal  is  compen- 
sated by  water  power  everywhere  present  along  the  mountains 
and  by  the  petroleum  of  the  south.  Manufacture  is  largely  of 
domestic  raw  materials  and  there  is  little  variety.  Lumber  is  the 
most  valuable  product.  About  three  fifths  of  the  manufacturing 
is  carried  on  in  the  six  largest  cities  without  much  specialization. 
Meats,  flour,  foundry  products,  and  printed  matter  are  large 
items  in  all.     Canned  fruits  (Fig.  205),  sugar  refined  from  native 

UNITED  STATES $157,101,201 

0  10  20  30  40 

California 

New  York 

Maryland 

Washington 
Pennsylvania 

Indiana 

Maine 

Illinois 

Massachusetts 
All  others 


Fig.  205. 


10  2.0  30  40 

Rank  of  states  (1909)  in  canning  and  preserving,  in  millions  of  dollars 


beets  and  from  Hawaiian  raw  sugar,  roasted  and  ground  coffee, 
and  refined  petroleum  belong  especially  to  San  Francisco  and 
Cahfornia.  Textiles,  knit  and  leather  goods,  and  most  articles  of 
luxury  and  art  are  imported.  The  value  of  all  manufactures  is 
about  4  per  cent  of  the  total  for  the  United  States  (Fig.  206). 


UNITED  STATES 

Canning  and  preserving 

All  manufactures 

Value  added  by  manufacture 


f 


PER  CENT 

40  50  60 


0  10  20  30         40  50 

Fig.  206.  —  Rank  of  Pacific  States  in  manufactures. 

361 


60  70  80  90 

(See  Table  V,  Appendix.) 


362  THE   PACIITC   STATIIS:   COMMERCE 

Transportation.  —  TraiVic  north  and  south  is  carried  on  chiefly 
by  sea.  There  is  a  continuous  railroad  Une,  mostly  under  South- 
ern Pacific  control,  from  San  Diego  to  Vancouver.  The  trans- 
continental systems  control  land  transportation.  Two  enter 
southern  California  (p.  335). 

The  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  finds  a  gateway  through  the  mountains  by 
way  of  the  Salton  Sink  and  San  Gorgonio  pass  to  Los  Angeles.  The  Santa 
Fe  enters  the  southern  end  of  the  Great  Valley  through  the  Tehachapi  pass. 
Both  systems  extend  northward  to  San  Francisco.  The  Union  Pacific  and 
Western  Pacific  systems  cross  the  mountain  wall  through  canyons  to  Sacra- 
mento. The  water  gap  of  the  Columbia  River  admits  the  Union  Pacific 
and  Northern  Pacific  lines  to  Portland.  The  three  northern  Pacific  sys- 
tems (p.  335)  cross  the  Cascades  through  tunnels  directly  to  Puget  Sound. 
The  mountains  and  plateaus  comprising  three  fourths  of  the  area  are  gener- 
ally without  railroad  facilities. 

The  Columbia  River  has  a  25-foot  channel  from  the  sea  to 
Portland  and  an  8-foot  channel  to  the  mouth  of  the  Snake  River. 
Puget  Sound  admits  ocean  vessels  to  the  Interment  Valley  of 
northern  Washington,  and  with  its  numerous  ports  plays  the  part 
of  a  small  inland  sea.  Commerce  is  concentrated  at  the  three 
great  inlets  which  have  determined  the  location  of  all  but  one 
of  the  principal  cities  and  railroad  terminals. 

Cities.  —  In  the  Pacific  States  there  are  31  cities  of  more  than 
10,000  inhabitants,  of  which  7  have  more  than  50,000.  Among 
these  are  three  great  seaports.  Nearly  57  per  cent  of  the  total 
population  is  urban.  This  concentration  is  in  part  due  to  the  use 
of  irrigated  land,  which  gives  rise  to  small  towns  (p.  325),  and 
in  part  to  the  sparse  population  of  forests  and  pastures. 

San  Francisco  (456,000).  —  The  metropolis  of  the  Pacific 
States  and  the  largest  city  west  of  the  Mississippi  ranks  eleventh 
among  the  cities  of  the  United  States.  The  metropolitan  district 
(p.  165)  contains  687,000  people  and  is  seventh  in  rank.  San 
Francisco  Bay,  about  50  miles  long  and  10  miles  wide,  occupies  a 
drowned  valley  between  the  Coast  Ranges,  and  an  arm  30  miles 


SAN   FRANCISCO 


3^>3 


Fig.    207. 


-  San    Francisco    and 
vicinity. 


long  extends  eastward  into  the  Great  Valley.  There  are  nearly 
500  square  miles  of  open  water,  completely  protected  from  the 
sea  and  deep  enough  to  float  the  navies  of  the  world.  It  is 
entered  by  the  Golden  Gate,  a 
strait  5  miles  long  and  i  mile  wide 
(Fig.  207).  The  city,  located  upon 
the  site  of  an  old  Spanish  post  and 
mission,  occupies  the  northern  end  of 
a  hilly  peninsula  between  the  sea 
and  the  bay.  It  covers  an  area 
about  8  miles  square  and  includes  a 
range  of  rocky  hills  300  to  900  feet 
high.  The  original  surface  has  been 
smoothed  by  grading  down  the  hills 
and  filling  the  coves  of  the  shore. 
The  city  faces  the  bay  with  the  busi- 
ness district  near  the  water  front,  the 
residence  districts  farther  back  on  high  ground,  and  the  parks 
on   the  seaward   side. 

In  April,  iqo6,  fire  following  an  earthquake  shock  destroyed  the  principal 
business  quarter  and  many  residences.  About  28,000  buildings  covering 
one  sixth  of  the  city  area  were  left  in  ruins.  They  were  rebuilt  in  four  years  at 
a  cost  of  about  $150,000,000.  The  new  city  is  built  of  steel  and  reenforced 
concrete  (p.  143),  of  the  most  modern  and  substantial  type  of  architecture. 

Suburbs.  — •  Golden  Gate  Park  of  1000  acres,  a  military  reservation  of 
1500  acres,  and  a  seashore  drive  of  20  miles  are  included  in  the  city.  The 
principal  naval  station  of  the  Pacific  is  at  Mare  Island  at  the  northern  end 
of  the  bay.  On  the  eastern  shore  Oakland  (190,000),  the  principal  railroad 
terminal  and  an  important  seaport,  and  Berkeley  (55,000),  the  seat  of  the 
State  University,  form  a  part  of  the  metropolitan  district.  The  climate  is 
breezy  and  damp,  with  almost  daily  fogs  in  summer.  Electric  power  and 
light  are  derived  from  a  hydraulic  plant  in  the  Sierra,  140  miles  distant.  A 
water  supply  is  planned  to  be  drawn  from  the  Hetch  Hetchy  valley. 

Commerce.  —  Of  the  ten  railroads  which  reach  the  bay,  only 
one  enters  San  Francisco,  the  others  being  connected  by  ferry 


364 


Jill,    I'ACIIIC    STATKS  :    t'lTIKS 


from  Oakland.  The  conmuTci'  of  llic  distric  1  is  much  tlic  hir^cst 
on  Ihc  Paril'ic  coast.  Regular  steamship  Hues  arc  maintained 
to  Mexico,  Central  and  South  America,  Hawaii,  the  P]iiHpj)ines, 
Japan,  China,  New  Zealand,  and  Australia,  and  ships  are  cleared 
to  almost  every  part  of  the  world.  The  domestic  coastwise  trade 
exceeds  all  the  rest  in  tonnage. 

Population.  —  San  Francisco  is  a  cosmopolitan  city,  one 
third  of  the  people  being  of  foreign  blood.  Of  these,  Germans, 
Italians,  Norwegians,  Chinese,  and  Japanese  are  most  nu- 
merous. 

Seattle  (331,000).  —  The  metropolis  of  Puget  Sound  (Fig.  208) 
is  the  vigorous  rival  of  San  Francisco  in  the  commerce  of  the 

Pacific.  It  has  an  outer  harbor 
on  Elliot  Bay  and  an  inner  on  the 
fresh-water  Lake  Washington. 
It  is  the  terminus  of  three  Pacific 
railroad  systems  and  has  connec- 
tions with  all.  Many  of  the 
glacial  drift  hills  on  the  site  of 
the  cit}^  have  been  removed  by 
hydraulic  power  used  as  in  mining 
(p.  327).  The  wooded  shores  of 
the  sound  and  of  numerous  lakes 
furnish  sites  for  beautiful  parks, 
including  the  campus  of  the  State 
University  and  a  military  reservation.  The  Cascade  and 
Olympic  Mountains  with  the  lofty  cones  of  Rainier  and  Baker 
are  in  full  view. 


Seattle  and  vicinity. 


Hydroelectric  power  and  coal  are  near  at  hand,  and  used  in  manufacture, 
especially  of  cedar  shingles.  Seattle  is  nearer  to  Asiatic  ports  than  San 
Francisco,  and  its  foreign  connections  are  equally  extensive.  It  almost 
monopolizes  the  trade  with  Alaska  and  the  Yukon  territory,  which  was  the 
principal  factor  in  its  increase  of  nearly  200  per  cent  in  population  between 
1900  and  1910. 


PORTLAND 


365 


Tacoma  (108,000),  on  Commencement  Bay,  shares  with  Seattle 
the  advantages  of  Puget  Sound  shipping,  railroads,  coal,  hydro- 
electric power,  timber,  and  grain.  The  city  claims  a  proprietor- 
ship in  Mt.  Rainier  or  Tacoma,  whose  glacier-covered  summit  is 
conspicuous  50  miles  away  (Fig.  209). 


Fig.  2og.  — Tacoma,  Washington,  and  All.  Rainier. 

Portland  (273,000),  on  the  Willamette  River,  12  miles  from  the 
Columbia,  commands  the  only  waterway  and  the  easiest  natural 
outlet  from  the  Interior  States  to  the  sea.  It  stands  at  the  inter- 
section of  the  river  route  with  north-south  routes  of  the  Intermont 
Valley.  It  has  connection  with  all  the  transcontinental  railway 
lines.  Water  and  electric  power  are  obtained  from  the  mountains. 
It  is  the  commercial  center  of  the  rich  Willamette  valley,  the 
Oregon  forests,  and  the  Columbia  fisheries,  and  as  a  seaport  enjoys 
a  share  of  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  Pacific.      (See  Fig.  210.) 

ELEM.   ECON.   GEOG. —  22 


366 


Till'.    I'ACIIIC    STATES:   CITIES 


SpokfUic  (14,^,000),  is  llu-  ('(Hiiiiu-n  iai  (iiiliT  of  llic  so  « ailed  "  Inland 
Empire,"  comprisiiiK  castt-rii  \Vashinf,Moii  and  northern  Idaho.  I'"alls  of  Oo 
and  70  feel  in  the  Spokane  River  and  ulher  waler  powers  in  the  district 

run  mills,  factories, 
and  mines  in  both 
stales.  It  is  a  junc- 
tion point  for  five 
transcontinental  rail- 
road systems. 

Los    Angeles 

(475,000).  —  The 
commercial  center 
of  the  fruit  district 
of  southern  Cali- 
fornia is  within  20 
miles  of  two  arti- 
ficial harbors,  but 
is  not  important 
as  a  seaport  (Fig. 
211).  The  site 
between  the  moun- 
tains and  sea  in- 
sures an  equable 
climate.  The  dif- 
ference in  temper- 
ature between  the 
coldest  month  and  the  warmest  is  less  than  20  degrees  and  frost 
has  occurred  but  five  times  in  20  years.  The  residence  districts 
are  notable  for  the  number  and  variety  of  tropical  trees  and 
shrubs.  Eucalyptus,  palms,  pepper  trees,  rubber  trees,  bananas, 
yuccas,  oranges,  and  a  profusion  of  roses,  hehotrope,  lilies,  gerani- 
ums, and  other  flowers  flourish  all  the  year  around.  The  country 
inland  for  50  miles  is  watered  by  thousands  of  artesian  wells,  and 
is  the  most  productive  tropical  fruit  region  in  the  United  States. 
An  aqueduct  200  miles  long  brings  from  Owens  River  sufficient 


Fig.  210.  —  Portland  and  vicinity. 


FOREIGN  COMMERCE 


367 


water  for  a  city  of  a  million  people.  The  aqueduct  also  supplies 
power  for  car  lines,  lighting,  and  factories,  and  any  excess  of 
water  may  be  used 
for  irrigation.  A 
rich  petroleum 
field  has  been  de- 
veloped within  the 
citv  limits. 


Easy  passes 
through  the  moun- 
tains eastward  made 
Los  Angeles  a  point 
of  prime  importance 
on  the  routes  of  the 
Southern  Pacific  and 
Santa  Fe  railroads, 
and  their  rivalry  stim- 
ulated the  growth  of 
the  city.  The  high 
market  value  of  fruit 
lands  and  city  prop- 
erty has  brought  a 
population  of  unusual 
wealth,  enterprise, 
and  intelligence.  This 
has  had  a  marked 
effect  upon  the  ma- 
terial, social,  and  political  conditions,  which  are  in  many  respects  superior 
to  those  of  other  American  cities.  Between  1900  and  1910,  its  population 
increased  211  per  cent. 


Pt.  Vincente 

> 


Pt.Fermln 

6CALE   OF  MILES 


Fig.  211.  —  Los  Angeles  and  vicinity. 


Foreign  Commerce.  —  The  foreign  commerce  of  the  Pacific 
States  amounts  to  6  per  cent  of  the  total  for  the  United  States, 
about  one  half  through  the  San  Francisco  district  and  two  fifths 
through  Puget  Sound  (Fig.  212).  The  shipping  tonnage  of  the 
Sound  ports  is  greater  than  that  of  all  others,  but  the  goods  are  of 
less  value.     The  Panama  Canal  will  stimulate  the  commercial 


368 


THE    PACII  IC   STATES  :   COMMERCE 


development  of  the  Pacific  ports  to  a  degree  diflicult  of  esti- 
mation. The  possibilities  are  very  great.  Half  the  people  on  the 
globe  live  around  the  Pacitic  and  Indian  oceans.  If  their  econ- 
omies ever  become  as  complex  (p.  92)  as  those  of  the  people 

around  the  Atlantic,  the 
value  of  their  trade  will 
not  be  inferior. 

Population.  —  One  half 
the  people  of  the  Pacific 
States  are  native  white  of 
native  parents  (Fig.  37). 
More  than  one  fifth  are 
foreign  born,  among  whom 
about  100,000  Chinese  and 
Japanese  attract  more 
attention  than  their  num- 
bers warrant.  They  are 
generally  industrious, 
thrifty,  and  contented 
with  a  very  modest  living. 
If  permitted  to  immigrate 
freely  they  would  furnish  an  almost  unlimited  supply  of  cheap 
labor  with  a  low  standard  of  living.  For  this  reason  and  be- 
cause of  their  inability  to  assimilate  with  white  Americans, 
further  immigration  is  prohibited  by  law. 

Summary.  —  Mountain  and  ocean  barriers  render  access  to 
the  Pacific  States  difficult,  and  cause  the  concentration  of  urban 
population  at  a  few  seaports.  The  commerce  of  these  ports  is 
likely  to  be  multiplied  many  times  in  the  near  future. 

Economic  Rank.  —  The  lack  of  coal,  on  the  Pacific  coast,  seems 
to  forbid  an  industrial  development  comparable  with  that  of  the 
Atlantic  coast.  The  mines  in  Alaska  may  in  the  future  supply  this 
deficiency,  and  petroleum  and  hydroelectric  power  may  be  better 
than  coal.     The  mother  lode  will,  sooner  or  later,  be  exhausted, 


Fig.  212. 


A  steamer  at   Seattle,  loading  for 
Japan  and  China. 


QUESTIONS  369 

the  forests,  even  if  conserved,  cannot  support  a  dense  population, 
and  the  small  area  of  available  land  forbids  extensive  agriculture. 
The  most  permanent  and  available  asset  of  the  Pacific  States  is 
likely  to  be  found  in  their  rare  climate,  which  permits  intensive 
tropical  horticulture,  and  attracts  people  who  can  choose  a  home 
for  the  joy  of  living  in  it.  The  region  is  fast  becoming  the 
garden  and  pleasure  ground  of  America.  Left  to  itself,  partial 
aridity,  isolation,  and  lack  of  fuel  might  keep  it  in  the  second  class 
of  complex  societies  (p.  92).  A  position  in  the  commercial 
currents  of  the  north  temperate  zone  and  organic  connection  with 
the  United  States  have  imposed  upon  it  a  development  beyond 
that  of  other  youthful  regions,  and  made  it  a  peculiar  example 
of  a  complex  economic  society  of  the  fourth  class. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Why  do  the  transcontinental  railroad  systems  control  the  transporta- 
tion and  to  some  extent  the  politics  of  the  Pacific  States? 

2.  Compare  the  natural  advantages  for  commerce  of  San  Francisco  Bay 
and  those  of  Puget  Sound. 

3.  Why  is  San  Francisco  nearly  twice  as  large  as  Seattle? 

4.  Compare  the  natural  economic  advantages  of  New  York  and  San 
Francisco. 

5.  Why  is  Seattle  nearer  to  Asiatic  ports  than  San  Francisco  is? 

6.  Account  for  the  rapid  growth  and  large  population  of  Los  Angeles. 

7.  Why  is  the  commerce  of  the  Pacific  half  of  the  world  much  smaller  than 
that  of  the  Atlantic  half? 

8.  Of  what  advantage  to  the  United  States  is  the  fact  that  its  territory 
extends  across  the  continent  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  ? 

9.  If  the  territory  of  the  United  States  extended  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
to  the  Arctic  Ocean  and  was  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
would  it  be  of  more  or  less  value  than  the  present  territory  ? 


CHAPTER   XXXI 

THE   OUTLYING   TERRITORIES  AND   DEPENDENCIES   OF 
THE   UNITED    STATES 

The  outlying  territories  of  the  United  States  do  not  play  a 
large  part  in  their  economy.  Alaska  is  continental  and  polar 
and  has  few  resources  not  already  existing  in  the  United  States. 
The  rest  (except  Panama)  are  far-away  tropical  islands  which 
might  be  expected  to  supply  those  products  for  which  the  United 
States  are  poorly  adapted.  Yet  they  contribute  less  than  the 
single  neighboring,  independent  island  of  Cuba. 


Longilude    HX)       \V. 


from       150     Greenwich 


Fig.  21- 


Alaska. 


Alaska.  —  The  territory  of  Alaska  occupies  the  northwestern 
projection  of  North  America  with  its  peninsulas  and  islands  and 

370 


ALASKA 


371 


a  strip  of  coast  stretching  500  miles  to  the  south  (F'ig.  213J.  It 
extends  through  as  many  degrees  of  latitude  and  longitude  as  the 
whole  of  the  United  States  and  its  area  is  nearly  one  fifth  as  large. 


Fig.   214.  —  The  coast  of  Alaska,  near  Sitka. 

In  relief  it  repeats  the  large  features  of  the  Interior  and  Pacific 
States.  The  Coast  Ranges,  100  to  200  miles  wide,  extend  in  a 
great  curve  of  2500  miles  along  the  Pacific  coast  and  contain  the 
highest  peaks  in  North  America.  The  interior  is  occupied 
by  the  Yukon  Plateau  which  descends  westward  to  low  plains 
bordering  upon  Bering  Sea.  The  northern  part  is  crossed  by 
the  Rocky  Mountains  beyond  which  a  hilly  plateau  slopes  to  the 
Arctic  Ocean. 

Coast  Line.  —  The  Pacific  coast  is  extremely  complex.  A  belt 
of  high,  rocky  islands  100  miles  wide,  separated  by  a  maze  of 
deep  "  canals  "  and  fiords  lies  between  the  mainland  and  the  sea. 
(See  Fig.  214.)  The  shores  of  Bering  Sea  and  the  Arctic  Ocean 
are  generally  low  and  regular,  and  the  coast  waters  are  shallow. 


372      'rKRRirOKIKS   AND    DKrKNDKNCIKS   UI-"    U.MTKI)    STATES 

Climate.  ■ —  Alaska  lies  in  the  cold  temperate  and  polar  zones 
(p.  56),  but  extent  in  latitude  and  longitude,  and  extremes  of 
relief  and  exposure  give  it  a  variety  of  climates.  The  Pacific 
coast  is  exposed  to  almost  constant  southwesterly  winds  from 
the  ocean,  which  bring  an  equable  climate  similar  to  that  of  the 
northern  Pacific  States,  but  with  longer  and  colder  winters  and 
a  heavier  rainfall.  As  the  damp  winds  from  the  ocean  arc  turned 
upward  by  the  mountain  wall,  condensation  is  rapid,  heavy  rain 
falls  on  the  lower  slopes  and  still  heavier  snow  on  the  higher. 
The  peaks  are  covered  with  perpetual  snow  and  the  valleys  are 
filled  by  the  most  extensive  system  of  glaciers  in  the  world,  of 
which  about  200  descend  nearly  or  quite  to  the  sea.  In  the 
interior  the  climate  is  extreme  and  severe,  with  short,  hot  sum- 
mers, long,  cold  winters,  and  a  rainfall  of  less  than  20  inches. 

Drainage.  —  The  interior  plateau  is  drained  by  the  Yukon 
River  and  its  tributaries,  navigable  in  summer  for  1500  miles 
but  closed  by  ice  8  months  in  the  year.  The  Kuskokwim  is 
navigable  500  miles.  The  Pacific  streams  are  glacier  fed,  short, 
and  rapid. 

Vegetation.  —  The  Arctic  slope  is  a  treeless,  mossy  tundra 
(p.  56),  the  Yukon  Plateau  a  grassy  tundra  with  forest  in  the 
stream  valleys.  The  Pacific  coast  region,  where  free  from  snow 
and  ice,  is  covered  with  coniferous  forest  similar  to  that  of  the 
Puget  Sound  region  (p.  345),  but  much  inferior  in  density  and 
value. 

Minerals.  —  The  mineral  resources  of  Alaska  are  large  but 
undeveloped  except  by  gold  mining.  Many  rich  placer  gold 
districts  have  been  worked,  of  which  Fairbanks  in  the  interior 
and  Nome  on  the  Bering  Sea  coast  are  the  most  important. 
Quartz  mining  is  carried  on  at  Juneau,  the  present  capital. 

Alaska  has  sent  out  more  than  $200,000,000  worth  of  gold, 
the  present  yield  being  about  $16,000,000  a  year.  Copper  mines 
in  the  northern  Coast  Ranges  have  yielded  $17,000,000.  The 
known  fields  of  coal  and  lignite  are  extensive  and  probably 


ALASKA 


373 


sufficient  to  supply  the  PaciJic  States,  but  the  lands  are  under 
government  control  and  at  present  coal  is  imported  from  British 
Columbia. 

Fisheries.  —  The  principal  salmon  fisheries  (p.  78)  of  the  world  are  lo- 
cated near  the  mouths  of  the  Alaskan  streams  and  yield  about  $17,000,000 
a  year.  The  Pribilof  Islands  in  Bering  Sea  are  breeding  and  hunting  grounds 
for  the  fur  seal.  The  herd  is  now  greatly  reduced  in  numbers  and  without 
government  protection  would  soon  become  extinct. 

Agriculture  and  Herding.  —  The  long  days  and  nearly  constant  sunshine 
of  the  short  summer  are  sufficient  to  ripen  barley,  oats,  potatoes,  and 
hardy  vegetables  in  the  interior  valleys  as  far  north  as  the  arctic  circle. 
The  summer  pastures  are  luxuriant,  and  hay  enough  can  be  cut  to  make 
cattle  raising  profitable.  Domestic  reindeer  have  been  imported  from 
Lapland,  and  under  native  care  have  multiplied  rapidly.  It  is  possible  that 
the  tundra  may  thus  become  an  important  source  of  meat  for  export. 

Transportation.  —  The  chief  hindrance  to  the  economic  de- 
velopment of  Alaska  is  the  difficulty  of  transportation,  which 
sometimes  costs  a  dollar  a  pound  for  100  miles.  The  Federal 
Government  has  built  hundreds  of  miles  of  stage  roads  and 
established  cable  and  telegraph  lines  to  the  principal  centers. 
Nearly  500  miles  of  railroad  have  been  built,  but  mostly  in  short, 
disconnected  pieces.     Two  lines  from  the  Pacific  coast  into  the 


A 


■J'.,5N-> 


lljJi^jWw^ 


PORTO  RICO 

SCALE   OF   MILES 


Fig.  215.  —  Porto  Rico. 


374    Ti:kkri()Rii:s  axd  dkpendencies  of  united  states 


interior  have  been  begun  and  one  is  in  operation  for  about  200 
miles.  The  Federal  Government  has  undertaken  its  extension 
to  Fairbanks.  Alaskan  ports  are  connected  with  Puget  Sound 
by  several  lines  of  ocean  steamers. 

Populalion   and   Commerce.  —  The   population    of   Alaska  is 
64,000,  of  which  two  fifths  are  Indians  and  Eskimos.     The  whites 

are  em])loyed  in  min- 
ing and  fishing.  They 
export  to  the  United 
States  about  $25,000,- 
000  worth  of  goods  a 
year  and  import  about 
820,000,000  worth. 
Only  railroads  are 
needed  to  increase 
these  amounts  indef- 
initely. 

Porto  Rico.  —  The 
easternmost  of  the 
Greater  Antilles  (Fig. 
215)  lies  1000  miles 
southeast  of  Florida. 
It  is  a  compact  island 
35  by  95  miles  in  ex- 
tent and  traversed 
by  several  ranges 
about  the  height  of 
the  mountains  of  Penn- 
sylvania. The  climate 
cumbing  for  coconuts,  Porto  Rico.  -g    equable,  healthful, 

and  dehghtful.  The  hills  are  cultivated  to  their  summits,  and 
all  tropical  products  flourish  (Fig.  216).  Sugar,  tobacco,  coffee, 
and  fruits  are  most  abundant,  of  which  about  $45,000,000 
worth  a  year  are  exported  to  the  United  States.     The  largest 


Fig.  216. 


HAWAIIAN   ISLANDS 


375 


imports  are  rice  and  cotton  cloth,  which  with  other  articles 
amount  to  about  $33,000,000  a  year.  The  population  of 
1,118,000  is  two  thirds  white  of  Spanish  descent  and  one  third 
negro.  One  fifth  of  the  people  are  urban,  and  the  capital,  San 
Juan,  on  a  fine  harbor,  is  a  well-built  city  of  49,000  inhabitants. 

Hawaiian  Islands.  —  A  chain  of  eight  large  and  many  small 
volcanic  islands  in  the  Pacific  Ocean  in  the  latitude  of  Cuba, 
and  about  2000  miles  from  San  Francisco,  constitutes  a  territory 
of  the  United  States  (Fig.  217).     Hawaii,  the  largest,  about  the 


100       Longitude        lo8 


nich        Ij 


NIIHAU'% 


\\1A 


-f 


THE  PKINCIPAL  ISLANDS 

OF  THE 

TEUUITOKY  01"  HAWAII 

On  enlarged  soale 
SCALE   OF  MILES 


THE  TEHKITOKY 
HAWAII 

SCALE  OF  MILES 
0       HXl     'JOO      SOO     100     500 

J 


175       Lung.       170       West       105        from       100     Oreenw.    1 


Fig.  217.  —  Hawaiian  Islands. 

size  of  Connecticut,  rises  in  several  rounded  summits  to  13,000 
feet  above  the  sea.  Honolulu  (52,000),  the  capital,  on  the  island 
of  Oahu,  about  3500  miles  from  Japan,  5000  miles  from  China 
and  the  Philippines,  and  4000  miles  from  New  Zealand  and 
Australia,  has  an  excellent  harbor  and  is  the  most  important 
crossroads  port  of  the  Pacific.  It  is  a  coahng  and  supply  station 
for  seven  trans-Pacific  steamship  lines  and  has  cable  communi- 
cation with  the  United  States  and  Asia.  Latitude  and  marine 
location  give  these  islands  a  cUmate  and  products  similar  to 


Jiacht.'Cliaiinrt 

B*T»NE9 


'      Fig.  218. 

PHILirPINE      — 
ISLANDS 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


Vitiau 


*%r  mo  s  'hiCiof  b/ujj 


Kaiik  rX^   AUJ 


luO  IW         '^lU        '^M 


> 


g,raH       >-' 


31   _  CAGAYAN  DE  JOLO 

"^      BRITISH  ^'^S/'-^  \J^YJa""*'  °      ^^^ 
NORTH  EORNEcTj^   .'   gS^'^'^'  '    ^  ^ 


CELEBES 


37^ 


124  Ureenwicb 


THE   PHILIPPLNE   ISLANDS 


377 


those  of  Porto  Rico.  Sugar  cane  is  the  principal  crop  and  the 
yield  of  sugar  per  acre  the  largest  in  the  world.  In  191 5  the 
islands  exported  $65,000,000  worth  of  sugar.  Of  the  population 
(192,000),  fewer  than  one  fourth  are  white,  one  fifth  are  native 
Malay,  and  the  rest  are  Japanese  and  Chinese. 

The  Philippine  Islands.  —  The  archipelago  of  the  Philippines, 
lying  about  6000  miles  across  the  Pacific  Ocean,  and  only  about 
600  miles  from  the 
coast  of  China,  belongs 
to  the  United  States 
(Figs.  218,  222). 
There  are  about  1700 
islands  extending 
north  and  south  as 
far  as  from  New 
Orleans  to  Duluth, 
but  in  the  latitude  of 
Central  America. 
Luzon,  the  northern- 
most, and  Mindanao, 
the  southernmost, 
are  each  about  as  large 
as  Ohio.  They  are 
generally  mountain- 
ous and  volcanic.  The 
climate  of  the  low- 
lands is  always  hot, 
damp,  and  trying  for 
white  people,  espe- 
cially women  and  chil- 
dren. The  monsoon  rains  of 
destructive  hurricanes  occur. 


-  Natives  pounding  rice,  Philippine  Islands. 

summer  are   very    heavy,   and 


Where  the  tropical  forest  is  cleared  its  place  is  taken  by  coarse  grass. 
The  bamboo  grows  to  a  height  of  70  feet  and  is  used  for  houses,  bridges,  and 


378     'ii;KRriokii;s  a.nd  I)i;i'i:.\I)K\ciks  of  uxitkd  states 

iiiipliiiu'iils.  All  tropical  plants  llourish,  among  ihcni  the  toconul,  arcca, 
and  iiipa  palms,  cacao,  coffee,  yam,  sugar  cane,  and  50  species  of  edible  fruit. 
Rice  is  the  staple  food  (Fig.  219),  but  methods  of  cultivation  are  so  crude 
that  the  crop  is  insuftkient  to  supply  the  home  demand.  Cotton,  tobacco, 
maize,  and  sweet  potatoes  are  grown.  The  most  valuable  product  for  export 
is  Manila  hemp,  a  coarse  fiber  obtained  from  a  i)lant  of  the  banana  family. 
There  are  about  120  miles  of  railway,  but  transportation  is  chielly  by  water, 
on  foot,  or  by  carabao,  a  native  sjK'cies  of  water  buffalo. 

The  population  is  8,276,000,  of  which  only  15,000  are  white, 
mostly  of  Spanish  blood.  There  arc  about  80  tribes  of  native 
Malay  stock,  differing  in  language,  religion,  and  degree  of  bar- 
barism. Manila,  the  capital,  is  a  commercial  city  of  234,000  in- 
habitants on  a  commodious  bay.  The  islands  send  to  the  United 
States  exports  amounting  to  about  $24,500,000  a  year,  of  which 
three  fifths  is  hemp  and  one  third  sugar  and  tobacco.  Imports 
from  the  United  States  amount  to  $25,000,000  a  year,  one  half 
of  which  is  cotton  cloth  and  machinery. 

The  Panama  Canal  Zone.  —  North  and  South  America  stretch 
9000  miles  across  the  parallels  dividing  the  world  into  an  Atlantic 
and  a  Pacific  half.  Ships  can  pass  from  one  to  the  other  only  by 
going  around  the  southern  end  of  South  America  or  clear  around 
the  world  the  other  way.  The  continental  barrier  is  broken  al- 
most in  two  in  the  middle  by  the  Caribbean  Sea,  on'ly  the  nar- 
row isthmus  of  Panama  being  left  between  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
waters.  The  distance  is  less  than  50  miles,  and  the  highest  point 
of  the  divide  is  only  about  300  feet  above  the  sea.  For  centuries 
men  have  dreamed  of  cutting  a  passage  through  this  compara- 
tively slight  obstruction.  To  accomplish  it  the  control  of  ma- 
laria and  yellow  fever  was  as  necessary  as  the  removal  of  earth 
and  rock.  Up  to  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  the 
sanitary  and  engineering  difftculties  of  the  work  were  such  as  to 
render  it  practically  impossible.     (See  Fig.  220.) 

When  in  1904  the  United  States  undertook  the  construction  of  the 
Panama  Canal,  control  was  obtained  from  the  Republic  of  Panama  of  a 


THE    PANAMA    CANAL   ZONE 


379 


zone  lo  miles  wide  having  the  line  of  ihe  eaiuil  along  its  center.  The 
waterway  now  completed  does  nol  cul  I  lie  isthmus  down  to  sea  level  or 
permit  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  waters  to  mingle.  It  may  be  thought  of 
as  a  bridge  of  water  over  the  land,  raised  85  feet  above  the  sea.     Half  its 


Gdiuh'iL  ocksMgn 


PANAMA  CANAL  ZONE 
and  Route  of  the 
PANAMA  CANAL 


,  '>     <  ^i,PER  CO  I.       J> 


SCALE  OF  MrLES 


jflAmenco  I. 


1  f 


■  Fig.  220.  —  Panama  Canal. 

length  is  through  an  artificial  lake  made  by  an  immense  dam  in  the  Chagres 
River.  An  inlet  7  miles  long  leads  from  the  Caribbean  Sea  to  the  dam,  where 
a  flight  of  three  locks  lifts  vessels  to  the  level  of  Gatun  Lake.  The  only 
actual  cut  made  in  the  isthmus,  9  miles  long  and  about  200  feet  deep,  leads 
from  the  lake  to  dams  and  locks  on  the  Pacific  slope,  by  which  vessels  are 
lowered  to  an  inlet  8  miles  long  on  that  side.  The  depth  of  the  channel 
varies  from  40  to  85  feet  and  its  width  from  300  to  1000  feet.  The 
size  of  the  vessels  which  can  pass  through  is  limited  by  the  dimensions 
of  the  locks.  Each  lock  is  a  concrete  chamber  1000  feet  long  and  no  feet 
wide,  closed  at  the  ends  by  steel  gates  or  doors.  A  ship  can  pass  through  the 
locks  in  about  3  hours  and  from  sea  to  sea  in  12  hours.     (See  Fig.  221.) 


380    TEkkrrokii'S  and  r)i:PENDENCiF-:s  of  united  states 

'I'hc  clTccts  of  tlu'  canal  upon  world  (oinnicrcc  must  he  far- 
reaching.  The  distance  from  Atlantic  porls  of  llu'  I'nited  States 
and  Cana(hi  to  Pacillc  ports  of  America  is  shortened  one  half 
or  more,  and  from  European  ports  by  some  smaller  proportion. 
The  domestic  trade  between  all  ports  of  the  United  States  must 
b}'  law  be  carried  on  in  .\mcrican  vessels,  which  are  more  costly 


I'"lG.     ^2  1. 


Cukhra  cut.  I'anama  Canal.     Dredges  removing  earth  from  a  slide. 


to  operate  than  foreign  vessels.  Therefore,  the  freight  rates  be- 
tween San  Francisco  and  European  ports  can  be  made  as  low 
as  those  between  San  Francisco  and  American  ports.  This 
would  result  in  a  considerable  diversion  of  foreign  commerce 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  states.  The  exchange  of  goods 
between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  states  will  be  greatly  in- 
creased and  much  of  the  through  freight  hitherto  carried  by 
transcontinental  railroads  will  go  by  water.  Water  routes  be- 
tween Atlantic  ports  and  Asiatic  ports  are  shortened  about  3000 
miles.  The  expansion  of  Pacific  coast  trade  and  the  improved 
accessibility  of  the  Pacific  States  may  encourage  a  considerable 
immigration  from  Europe.  Those  states  may  increase  in  popu- 
lation and  wealth  and  San  Francisco  may  occupy  in  relation  to 


QUESTIONS  381 

them  an  economic  position  similar  to  that  of  New  York  in  the 
Eastern  States. 

Summary.  —  Considering  their  present  and  future  products, 
Alaska,  Hawaii,  and  Porto  Rico  are  the  most  valuable  outlying 
possessions  of  the  United  States.  In  promoting  the  commerce 
of  the  whole  country,  the  Panama  Canal  is  destined  to  have  an 
incalculable  influence.  The  Philippines  have  proved  to  be  a 
burden  rather  than  a  support.  Measures  are  being  taken  to 
provide  for  their  poUtical  independence. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  Why  has  the  Federal  Government  retained  control  of  the  .\laskan 
coal  fields?     Is  this  a  good  economic  policy? 

2.  Why  has  the  Federal  Government  undertaken  the  construction  of 
railroads  in  Alaska? 

3.  What  are  the  Greater  Antilles?  What  is  the  political  condition  of 
each? 

4.  Which  is  of  greater  value  to  the  United  States,  Hawaii  or  the  Philip- 
pines ?     Why  ? 

5.  Compare  the  importance  of  the  Panama  Canal  with  that  of  the  Suez 
Canal. 


ELEM.    ECON.    GEOG.  —  23 


CHAPTER   XXXII 
FOREIGN    COMMERCE    OF   THE    UNITED    STATES' 

Although  the  domestic  commerce  of  the  United  States  is 
estimated  to  be  forty  times  as  great  as  its  foreign  commerce, 
the  hitter  amounts  to  four  or  live  bilHon  dollars  a  year. 

Imports.  —  The  people  of  the  United  States  buy  from  foreign 
countries  nearly  two  billion  dollars'  ($1,893,925,000)  worth  of 
goods  a  year.  The  reasons  for  this  large  and  varied  purchase 
abroad  may  serve  as  a  means  for  classifying  the  goods.  (See 
Table  IX,  Appendix.) 

1.  Products  of  tropical  plants  which  cannot  he  largely  produced  in  the 
United  States  for  lack  of  suitable  climate.      Most  of  these  are  table  luxuries 

which  people  could  do  without.  The  largest  items  are  coffee,  cane  sugar, 
cacao  (chocolate),  fruits,  nuts,  olive  oil,  tea,  and  spices.  Of  constructive 
materials,  rubber  is  by  far  the  most  needed  and  valuable.  Among  fibers, 
jute,  sisal,  and  Manila  hemp  supply  cordage  and  sacking.  These  constitute 
about  30  per  cent  of  all  imports. 

2.  M  inerals  not  found  in  the  United  States.  Among  these  tin  is  the  most 
widely  useful,  precious  stones  are  costly  lu.xuries,  sodium  nitrate  is  invaluable 
as  a  fertilizer,  and  nickel  and  platinum  are  rare  but  useful  metals.  These 
minerals  amount  to  about  8  per  cent  of  the  total  imports. 

3.  Articles  which  might  be  produced  at  home  but  on  account  of  labor 
conditions  can  be  had  more  cheaply  abroad.  The  one  great  item  of  this 
kind  is  raw  silk.  Burlaps,  linen,  and  other  textiles  also  belong  to  this  class, 
which  forms  10  per  cent  of  imports. 

4.  Articles  produced  at  home  in  large  quant  Hies,  but  insufficient  or  lack- 
ing in  some  special  quality.  The  largest  item  of  all  imports  is  hides  and 
skins.     Cotton,  wool,  tobacco,  lumber,  wood  pulp,  copper,  iron,  and  steel 

'  This  chapter  is  based  on  the  statistics  of  the  Department  of  Commerce  for 
the  \'car  ending  June  30,  1914,  before  the  beginning  of  the  European  ]]'ar. 

382 


EXPORTS  383 

are  other  important   additions  to  resources  in  which  the  United  States  is 
already  rich.     Such  articles  form  22  per  cent  of  all  imports. 

5.  Articles  which  require  special  technical  or  artistic  skill  not  yet  de- 
veloped in  the  United  States.  Chemicals,  drugs,  and  dyes  head  this  list. 
Gloves  and  line  leather  goods,  silks,  velvets,  fine  woolens,  works  of  art. 
and  books  are  largely  or  wholly  products  of  skill  or  talent  belonging  to  few 
peoples.     These  comprise  about  18  per  cent  of  all  imports. 

To  render  the  United  States  all  but  self-sufficient  and  inde- 
pendent of  foreign  commerce,  without  lowering  the  standard  of 
Hving,  two  things  are  needed:  (i)  an  expansion  of  territory  into 
the  tropics,  and  (2)  an  increase  of  scientific,  technical,  and  artistic 
skill  among  the  people.  For  example,  Cuba,  Mexico,  or  Central 
America  would  be  ample  for  the  first.  Under  the  pressure  of 
necessity  the  second  could  be  acquired  in  a  generation. 

Exports.  —  The  people  of  the  United  States  sell  to  foreign 
countries  more  than  two  and  a  quarter  billion  dollars'  ($2,365- 
ooa,ooo)  worth  of  goods  a  year.  The  largest  item  is  raw  cotton, 
amounting  to  more  than  one  quarter.  Other  large  items  are  iron 
and  steel,  breadstuffs,  petroleum,  copper,  meats,  and  wood, 
amounting  to  two  fifths.  The  remaining  third  is  made  up  of 
about  00  items  of  relatively  small  value.  Exports  represent  a 
surplus  not  needed  at  home  and  may  be  classified  according  to 
economic  origin.     (See  Table  IX,  Appendix.) 

1.  Products  of  agriculture,  cotton,  tobacco,  grain,  fruits,  etc.,  amount 
to  nearly  two  fifths. 

2.  Collective  products,  petroleum,  coal,  copper,  timber,  lumber,  etc.,  make 
up  one  fifth. 

3.  Manufactures  of  iron  and  steel,  including  engines,  cars,  carriages,  auto- 
mobiles, agricultural,  electrical,  and  other  machinery  constitute  18  per 
cent. 

4.  Miscellaneous  manufactures  amount  to  14  per  cent. 

5.  Meats  and  fish  form  about  8  per  cent. 

Imports  and  exports  are  classified  by  the  Department  of  Com- 
merce as  follows : 


6^4 


i'()Ki;i(;.\  co.MMiiRci';  oi'   iiii-;   i\ni:i)  statiis 


Crude  materials  used  in  manufai  lure 

Crude  foodstuffs        

Manufactured  foodstuffs 

Manufactures  for  further  use  in  manufacture 
Finished  manufactures 


Imports 


12.00 
16.88 
23.67 


Exports 


.5403 
5-9° 
12.57 
16.08 
31.12 


Several  things  are  notable.  Although  the  United  States  is 
one  of  the  great  food-producing  countries,  it  buys  more  food 
than  it  sells.  More  than  half  the  goods  sold  are  manufactures. 
There  is  not  a  single  item  for  which  the  world  is  dependent  upon 
the  United  States  alone.  American  cotton,  petroleum,  and 
copper  constitute  a  larger  share  of  the  world's  supply  than  is 
the  case  with  other  commodities. 

Foreign  Countries.  —  The  countries  with  which  the  United 
States  trades  may  be  placed  in  four  classes, 'determined  by  -the 
economic  development  of  each,  which  depends  largely  upon  posi- 
tion, climate,  and  mineral  resources.     (See  Table  X,  Apj)endix.) 

Class  I.  Western  Europe.  —  To  the  first  class  belong  those 
countries  of  western  Europe  which  have  attained  the  highest 
stage  of  economic  development.  They  utilize  practically  all  their 
domestic  resources,  buy  largely  of  raw  materials  abroad,  and 
manufacture  a  great  variety  of  goods  for  export.  They  also  act 
as  collectors  and  distributors,  importing  all  sorts  of  goods  which 
they  assort  and  reexport  without  change,  as  wholesale  dealers 
and  middlemen  do  in  every  community.  None  of  them  are 
able  to  feed  themselves  fully,  and  some  are  dependent  upon  other 
countries  for  most  of  the  food  they  consume.  They  are  the  in- 
dustrial and  merchant  nations  for  which  factories  at  home  and 
markets  abroad  are  essential  to  prosperity  or  even  to  existence. 
Nearly  one  half  (46  per  cent)  the  trade  of  the  United  States 
is  carried  on  with  them  across  the  north  Atlantic  Ocean  by  the 
main  sea  route  of  the  world. 


CLASS    I.      WESTERN   EUROPE  385 

The  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland.  — -  The 
leadership  of  the  United  Kingdom  in  world  commerce  depends 
upon  a  combination  of  geographical  and  historical  causes.  No 
other  country  enjoys  in  equal  degree  advantages  of  position 
in  relation  to  Europe  and  America,  number  and  excellence  of 
seaports,  large  coal  resources,  mild  climate,  and  a  dense  popula- 
tion of  skilled  artisans.  The  extent  and  resources  of  the  oversea 
dependencies  of  the  British  Empire  and  the  number  of  vessels 
under  the  British  flag  give  to  the  British  Isles  the  command  of 
vast  resources  and  markets.  More  than  one  fifth  (21  per  cent) 
of  the  total  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States  is  with  the 
United  Kingdom,  which  is  our  largest  customer  for  cotton,  meats, 
tobacco,  wheat,  flour,  and  lumber,  buying  one  fourth  of  all  our 
exports.  In  return  we  import  textiles,  rubber,  tin,  wool,  and 
other  articles  of  manufacture  and  merchandise  amounting  to 
one  half  as  much  as  wc  export. 

Germany,  the  great  industrial  and  commercial  rival  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  is  less  favorably  situated  for  commerce,  but 
has  greater  and  more  varied  resources  of  food  and  mineral 
wealth.  Industry  is  so  organized  as  to  attain  a  very  high  degree 
of  scientific  efificiency  and  to  make  the  most  of  the  rather  severe 
cHmate,  moderately  good  soil,  and  well-distributed  coal  and 
ores.  The  Germans  have  secured  one  eighth  of  the  trade  of 
the  United  States,  buying  most  largely  cotton,  copper,  meats, 
and  wheat,  and  selHng  textiles,  gloves,  toys,  and  chemicals,  espe- 
cially dyes. 

France  is  highly  favored  by  nature,  having  as  good  access  to 
the  sea  as  Great  Britain  and  better  climate  and  soil  than  Ger- 
many. In  mineral  wealth  the  country  is  deficient.  Southern 
France  is  in  the  Mediterranean  region  and  its  products  are  sub- 
tropical. The  French  buy  largely  from  the  United  States  of 
cotton  and  copper,  and  sell  wines,,  fine  textiles,  and  works  of 
art  amounting  to  as  much  as  the  textiles.  Their  share  of  our  total 
commerce  is  7  per  cent. 


386  FOREIGN    COMMKKCK   OF     Iiri-.    r\ri'i;i)    S'lA'IKS 

The  Nctlicyliiiuls  and  Bcli^iinn,  small  (ounlrirs  al  liic  iiioiillis  of  the  Rhine, 
{ikiy  a  larger  |)arl  in  tlu'  world's  coinnuTcc  ihaii  lluir  sizt'  alone  would  ac- 
count for.  Three  of  their  seai^orts,  Antwerp,  Rotterdam,  and  Amsterdam, 
are  amonj;  the  lar<^esl  in  the  world.  The  soil  is  intensively  cultivated  and 
the  coal  fields  of  Belgium  make  the  country  a  hive  of  industry.  The  Dutch 
have  very  productive  colonies  in  the  East  Indies,  and  the  Belgians  control 
the  Congo  basin  in  Africa.  Thus  they  are  able  to  sell  to  the  United  Slates 
African  rubber  and  diamonds  and  Sumatra  tobacco,  buying  copper,  cotton, 
foodstuffs,  and  oils,  all  amounting  to  6  per  cent  of  the  United  States  com- 
merce. 

Class  II.  —  Some  countries  of  the  temperate  zone  exchange 
with  the  United  States  raw  materials  and  manufactured  goods 
of  home  production,  but  do  not  act  as  middlemen.  They  carry 
on  one  fifth  of  the  total  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States. 

Canada  is  the  nearest  neighbor,  next  of  kin,  and  in  an  economic 
sense  a  small  copy  of  the  United  States.  The  railroad  systems 
of  the  two  countries  connect  at  many  points,  both  make  free  use 
of  the  Great  Lakes  and  connecting  canals  and  rivers,  and  ex- 
change of  goods  goes  on  almost  as  freely  as  between  the  states. 
Canadian  forests  supply  lumber,  wood  pulp,  and  paper,  the  steppe 
furnishes  cattle  and  hides,  the  farms  flaxseed,  and  the  mines 
copper.  Canada  buys  twice  as  much  as  she  sells,  largely  coal, 
machinery,  iron  and  steel,  and  foodstuffs,  the  whole  equaling 
the  trade  of  Germany. 

Japan,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  world,  sells  to  the  United  Slates  raw 
silk,  tea,  straw  hats,  and  other  goods  amounting  to  twice  as  much  as  the 
purchases,  chiefly  of  cotton,  petroleum,  and  flour. 

Italy  and  Spain  furnish  peculiar  Mediterranean  products,  such  as  raw 
silk,  macaroni,  cheese,  olive  oil,  fruits,  nuLs,  and  cork  in  exchange  for  cot- 
ton, tobacco,  and  petroleum. 

Class  III.  —  Young  or  economically  undeveloped  countries  of 
the  temperate  zone  sell  raw  materials  and  buy  mostly  textiles 
and  machinery.  Trade  with  them  amounts  to  only  8  per  cent 
of  the  whole  and  could  be  indefinitely  increased  by  better  shipping 
facilities. 


PORTS   AND    SHIPS  387 

Chile  and  Peru  sell  copper  and  nitrale  of  soda,  Argentina  and  Russia  sell 
hides  and  wool.     Australia  sells  wool  and  China  sells  wool  and  raw  silk. 

Class  IV.  Tropical  Countries.  —  The  fourth  class  contains 
a  long  list  of  countries  which  supply  tropical  products :  coffee, 
cacao,  rubber,  fibers,  cotton,  fruits,  nuts,  cane  sugar,  palm  oil, 
tobacco,  spices,  and  among  minerals  tin  and  copper.  With  few 
exceptions  they  sell  to  the  United  States  goods  amounting  to 
many  times  the  value  of  what  they  buy.  Commerce  with  these 
countries  amounts  to  more  than  one  fifth  (22  per  cent)  of  the 
total  of  the  United  States. 

Of  these  countries  the  United  States  is  most  indebted  to 
Cuba,  an  island  only  100  miles  off  the  Florida  coast  and  our 
chief  dependence  for  cane  sugar  and  fine  tobacco.  Mexico,  al- 
most as  closely  connected  on  the  south  as  Canada  on  the  north, 
but  foreign  in  race,  language,  and  customs,  is  the  only  source 
of  sisal  fiber,  and  contributes  also  cattle,  hides,  rubber,  cop- 
per, and  coffee.  In  Brazil,  the  southern  subtropical  highlands 
supply  three  fourths  of  our  coffee  and  the  Amazon  lowlands 
one  fifth  of  our  rubber  {\).  ^2). 

The  Caribbean  countries,  Colombia,  Venezuela,  Central  America,  and 
ihe  West  Indies  furnish  coffee,  tobacco,  fruits,  and  nuts.  Of  the  United 
States  dependencies  Porto  Rico  contributes  sugar,  tobacco,  coffee,  and 
fruits,  Hawaii  sugar,  and  the  Philippines  hemp,  sugar,  and  tobacco.  The 
British  East  Indies  send  us  jute,  burlaps,  tin,  rubber,  and  skins.  Egypt 
alone  furnishes  the  finest  grade  of  cotton. 

Ports  and  Ships.  —  The  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States 
is  carried  on  chiefly  by  sea  from  the  Atlantic,  Gulf,  and  Pacific 
coasts,  but  also  across  the  land  borders  with  Canada  and  Mexico. 
(See  Tables,  XII,  XIII,  Appendix.) 

The  Eastern  States  have  64  per  cent  of  the  total,  56  per  cent  by 
sea  and  8  per  cent  by  land,  and  the  imports  exceeding  the  ex- 
ports. The  port  of  New  York  handles  45  per  cent  of  the  whole. 
Philadelphia,  Boston,  and  Baltimore  follow  in  rank,  with  a 
combined  commerce  of  12.5  per  cent  of  the  whole.     The  Southern 


388  FOREIGN    COMMllKCi:    OF   THK    UNITKlJ    STATES 

Stales  have  21  })er  cent  of  the  total,  almost  entirely  hy  sea,  r^  j^er 
cent  being  through  New  Orleans  and  (ialveston.  The  large 
shipments  of  cotton  from  southern  ports  make  their  exports 
four  times  as  valuable  as  their  imports.  The  Pacific  States 
have  6  per  cent  of  the  total  commerce,  a  little  more  than  half 
through  San  Francisco.  The  commerce  of  the  Middle  West 
with  Canada,  carried  on  through  the  lake  ports  Detroit,  Buffalo, 
Chicago,  Cleveland,  and  Duluth,  amounts  to  nearly  7  per  cent 
of  the  total.  Even  the  Interior  States  have  a  little  foreign  com- 
merce across  the  Mexican  border.     (See  Table  X,  Appendix.) 

Of  the  total  foreign  tonnage  of  all  the  ports  of  the  United 
States,  New  York  has  31  per  cent,  exceeding  that  of  any  other 
port  in  the  world.  Puget  Sound,  New  Orleans,  Boston,  and 
Philadelphia  stand  next  in  rank  with  a  combined  tonnage  of 
23  per  cent.  (See  Table  VII,  Appendix.)  About  10  per  cent  of 
the  foreign  commerce  is  carried  in  American  vessels,  45  per  cent 
in  British,  13  per  cent  in  German,  and  the  rest  in  French,  Dutch, 
Norwegian,   and  Japanese  vessels. 

Summary.  —  Two  thirds  of  the  foreign  commerce  of  the 
United  States  is  carried  on  with  western  Europe,  Canada,  and 
Japan,  countries  in  the  north  temperate  zone.  This  includes 
some  goods  which  came  originally  from  the  tropics. 

QUESTIONS 

1.  What  does  the  relative  value  of  foodstuffs  and  of  manufactures  ex- 
ported indicate  as  to  the  need  for  the  improvement  of  agriculture  in  the 
United  States? 

2.  Why  does  the  United  States  import  cotton,  tobacco,  and  iron? 

3.  Is  it  of  advantage  to  the  United  States  to  export  goods  of  greater  value 
than  the  imports? 

4.  Why  is  nearly  half  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States  carried 
on  with  countries  whose  natural  resources  and  economic  products  are  similar 
to  our  own? 

5.  Why  is  the  exchange  of  goods  on  east-west  routes  in  the  temperate 
zone  more  extensive  than  on  north-south  routes  between  different  zones? 
What  natural  conditions  make  this  possible  ? 


EFFECT   OF    EUROPEAN   WAR   ON   COMMERCE 


389 


6.  Why  is  so  little  foreign  commerce  carried  in  American  vessels  ?  Would 
an  increase  of  the  American  merchant  marine  be  of  advantage  to  the  United 
States? 

SUPPLEMENTARY   STx\TEMENT 

Effect  of  the  European  War  on  Foreign  Commerce.  —  The 

general  ctTcct  of  the  European  war  upon  the  foreign  commerce 
of  the  United  States  was  to  decrease  imports  sUghtly  and  to  in- 
crease exports  enormously.  Trade  with  Germany  was  almost 
cut  off  and  trade  with  Great  Britain,  France,  and  Italy  was 
greatly  stimulated.  The  most  notable  advance  was  in  exports 
of  breadstuffs,  meats,  horses,  mules,  automobiles,  explosives,  and 
munitions  of  war. 


1913 

1915 

Imports       

$1,792,596,480 
2,484,018,202 

$1,778,596,695 

3,547,480,372 

Exports        

Total        

$4,276,614,772 

$5,326,077,067 

Fig,  222.     Map  of  the  World  showing  the  United  States  and  its  outlyir 


COMMUNICATIONS 

Principal  steamship  routes.  The  heavier  blue 
"  lines  ehow  the  most  important  ocean  routes 

Figures  indicate  the  distance  in  geographical 

miles  between  places  marked  thua,  8 

Submarine  telegraph  catles. 
-Principal  railroads. 
..Caravan  routes. 


CO"        Greenwich        .".0 


0  Longitude         30'   Kast  from    CO^       Greenwich 


territories  and  dependencies,  together  with  principal  commercial  routes. 


391 


CHAPTER   XXXIII 
THE   ECONOMIC   WORK   OF   THE   GOVERNMENT 

In  a  civilized  country  the  success  of  any  economic  undertaking 
depends  not  only  upon  the  natural  resources  and  conditions, 
but  also  upon  the  kind  of  government  which  prevails  there. 
The  Federal  and  state  governments  of  the  United  States 
influence  every  industry  and  business  in  a  thousand  ways. 
Only  their  more  important  activities  can  be  noticed  in  this 
book. 

The  Post  Office  Department.  —  The  postmen  are  the  only 
Federal  officers  who  serve  practically  every  man,  woman,  and 
child.  There  are  few,  if  any,  citizens  to  whom  they  do  not 
deliver  letters,  papers,  and  parcels.  The  speed,  safety,  and  small 
cost  of  mail  service  is  one  of  the  fundamental  things  which 
make  economic  prosperity  possible.  In  some  countries  the  tele- 
graph and  telephone  systems  are  under  government  control 
and  managed  much  like  the  postal  service,  but  in  the  United 
States  these  are  left  to  private  enterprise. 

The  Treasury  Department.  —  Civilized  economy  requires  the 
use  of  money  (p.  76)  and  the  transaction  of  business  depends 
upon  the  existence  of  a  sufhcient  amount  of  currency,  in  coin  and 
notes  which  do  not  fluctuate  in  value.  This  is  provided  by  the 
Treasury,  which  cooperates  with  the  banks  to  maintain  a  sound 
financial  condition. 

The  War  Department  has  charge  of  the  improvement  of 
rivers  and  harbors,  upon  which  many  millions  are  spent  every 
year. 

392 


SUMMARY  393 

The  Interior  Department.  —  This  department,  besides  having 
charge  of  the  survey  and  sale  of  public  lands,  includes  the  Geologi- 
cal Survey,  the  work  of  which  is  fundamental  to  that  in  many 
other  lines.  The  Survey  is  engaged  in  the  making  of  topographic 
and  geologic  maps,  in  the  exploration  and  description  of  the  earth 
crust  on  the  surface  and  underground,  and  in  the  investigation 
of  mineral  veins  and  deposits,  including  water  resources.  To 
it  belongs  also  the  work  of  the  Reclamation  ^Service  designed  to 
carry  out  large  irrigation  projects  (p.  319). 

The  Department  of  Agriculture,  created  in  1889,  has  functions 
almost  purely  economic.  It  maintains  the  Weather  Bureau, 
which  issues  daily  maps  and  forecasts  and,  when  necessary, 
warnings  of  storms,  frosts,  and  cold  waves.  The  Bureau  of 
Plant  Industry  sends  agents  to  every  part  of  the  world  to  find  and 
bring  home  useful  species  and  varieties.  By  its  work  and  that 
of  the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  and  the  agricultural  Experiment 
Stations  in  every  state,  the  farmer  gets  the  benefit  of  the  latest 
scientific  discoveries,  and  agricultural  methods  and  results  are 
being  revolutionized.  The  Bureau  of  Soils  makes  surveys  and 
pubHshes  maps  with  statements  of  the  crops  best  suited  to 
each  variety  of  soil.  The  national  forests  are  under  the  care  of 
the  Forest  Service. 

The  Department  of  Commerce  publishes  statistics  of  the  com- 
merce of  the  world  (p.  382),  and  of  the  decennial  census  of  the 
United  States.  It  maintains  the  Bureau  of  Fisheries  (p.  353), 
builds  lighthouses,  and  conducts  a  Coast  Survey  for  the  improve- 
ment of  navigation  and  the  safety  of  mariners. 

Summary.  — ■  Probably  no  government  ever  before  did  so 
much  to  develop  the  national  resources  of  its  domain  and  to 
help  its  citizens  to  get  a  better  Hving,  as  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  is  doing  to-day.  Most  of  the  states  cooperate  with 
the  Federal  Government,  and  also  carry  on  independent  work  in  ge- 
ology, mining,  agriculture,  forestry,  fisheries,  water  power,  canals, 
flood  control,  sanitation,  and  other  lines  of  economic  importance. 


394  'i'HE    ECOXO.MK     WORK    ()!•     llll':    (iON  IIKXMKNT 

QUESTIONS 

1.  How  do  the  telegraph  and  leleplione  save  lime  and  expense? 

2.  What  would  be  the  advantages  of  government  ownership  of  telegrai)h 
and  telephone  service? 

3.  If  every  bank  were  permitted  to  issue  notes  and  coins,  whal  would  be 
the  result  ? 

4.  How  does  the  Weather  Bureau  help  the  farmer?  the  shipper  by  rail? 
the  shipper  by  water? 

5.  What  does  the  Government  do  to  encourage  foreign  commerce? 


STATISTICAL    APPENDIX 

Fuller  statistics  from  which  these  tables  are  condensed  may  be 
found  in  the  following  works  of  reference,  which  should  be  in 
every  school  library.  They  may  usually  be  obtained  free  of  cost 
on  application  to  the  department  or  bureau  of  the  Government 
which  publishes  them. 

Report  of  the  Thirteenth  Census  of  the  United  States.  Bureau  of 
the  Census. 

Statistical  Abstract  of  the  United  States  (Annual).  Bureau  of 
Foreign  and  Domestic  Commerce. 

Yearbook  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  (Annual).  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture. 

The  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States  (Annual).  United 
States  Geological  Survey. 


305 


396 


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397 


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400 


STATISTIC  AL    AIMMNDIX 


Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Michigan 

W  isconsin 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Missouri 

North  Dakota 

South  Dakota 

Nebraska 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

r^ 

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\ermont 

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New  York 

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C 

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1913 
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00 
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to 

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1914 
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0 
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so 
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00 

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in 

"c 

Ohio 

Indiana 

Illinois 

Michigan 

Wisconsin 

Minnesota 

Iowa 

Missouri 

North  Dakota 

South  Dakota 

Nebraska 

Kansas 

Kentucky 

0 
§ 

Maine 

New  Hampshire 

Vermont 

Massachusetts 

Rhode  Island 

Connecticut 

New  York 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania 

Delaware 

Maryland 

D.  of  Columbia 

Virginia 

West  X'irginia 

ir. 

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w 

STATISTICAL   APPENDIX 


4CI 


North  Carolina 

South  Carolina 

(ieor^ia 

Florida 

Tennessee 

Alalnima 

M  ississippi 

Arkansas 

Louisiana 

Oklahoma 

Texa> 

■7. 

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Idaho 

Wyoming' 

Colorado 

New  Mexico 

Arizona 

Utah 

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if, 
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INDEX 


Accessibility,  162 

Africa,  62,  67,  68,  73,  76,  84 

Agricultural  implements,  146 

rank  of  states  in,  146 
Agriculture,  87 
Air,  71 

Alaska,  60,  78,  364,  368,  370-374 
Alcohol,  121 

Alfalfa,  121,  127,  313,  317,  S2.i 
Alluvial  valley  of  Mississippi,  273 
Amazon  basin,  27,  30 
Amazon  forest,  27,  31,  44 
Amazon  people,  27-32 
Amazon  River,  27 
Amsterdam,  386 
Ansonia,  231 
Antarctica,  56 
Anthracite,  133,  192,  207 
Antwerp,  386 
Appalachian  coal  field,  191 
Appalachian  Highlands,  96 
Appalachian  Highlanders,  37-43 
Appalachian  Mountains,  273 
Appalachian  Plateau,  184,  195 
Apples,  240,  350 
Arabia,  66 

Argentina,  63,  92,  113,  116,  117,  217,  387 
Arrowrock  project,  322 
Artifacture,  90 
Artificial  ice,  143 
Artificial  silk,  222 
Asheville,  275 
Atlanta,  301 

Atlantic  division,  95-101 
Australia,  62,  65,  67,  73,  76,  92,  217,  387 
Austria-Hungary,  116,  217,  286 
Automobiles,  147,  172 

Bad  lands,  305 

Balds,  41 

Baltimore,  260-262,  284,  387 

Bamboo,  377 

Bananas,  68,  282 

Barley,  119,  121,  350 

Barrier  beach,  188 

Barter,  84 


Beet  sugar,  323 

Belgium,  92,  117,  216,  220,  386 

Berkeley,  363 

Berkshire  Hiljs,  242 

Bessemer,  212 

Bessemer  steel,  211 

Birmingham,  289,  301 

Bituminous  coal,  133,  191,  193 

Black  Hills,  305,  329 

Blast  furnace,  209,  212 

Blowgun,  28,  29 

Blue  Ridge  Mountains,  37 

Bohemia,  216 

Boll  weevil,  279 

Boots  and  shoes,  225 

manufactures  by  states,  226 
Borax,  355 

Boston,  254-257,  284,  387,  388 
Brazil,  69,  218,  280,  387 
Bread,  114,  116 
Breadfruit,  20 
Bri  k,  142,  173,  199 
Bridgeport,  231 
Brijuettes,  193 
Brc|ckton,  226 
Br}|n  Mawr,  259 
Buffalo,  193,  208,  264-266,  388 
Buffaloes,  62,  124,  312 
Bullfrog,  329 

Bureau  of  Animal  Industrv-,  393 
Bureau  of  Fisheries,  353,  393 
Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  393 
Bureau  of  Soils,  393 
Butte,  329,  341 
Butter.  125 
Buzzards  Bay,  233 

California  fruits,  351,  352,  366 

Camels,  33,  36,  66 

Campos,  69 

Canada,  60,  73,  117,  119,  386 

Canals,  156,  157,  159,  160,  161,  169,  173, 

179.  233,  234,  235,  245,  263,  265,  298, 

299.  337.  357,  367 
Cane  sugar,  283 
Canned  fruits,  361 


407 


4o8 


iM)i;x 


CaimiiiK  and  prcscrxin^;,  rank,  of  status  in, 

Carabao,  124,  378 
Carljon  dioxide,  51,  71 
Caribou,  18 
CarneKie  Institute,  203 
Cartwright,  Edmund,  214 
Cattle,  124,  312,  286 

distribution  (map),  124 
Cement,  142,  201,  203,  209 
Ceylon,  227 

Channel  Indians.     See  Yahgans 
Charleston,  300 
Chemical  industries,  83 
Chicago,  106,  137,  138,  144,  147,  154,  lOi, 

166-170,  178,  193,  208,  213,  223,  229, 

388 
Chicago  Drainage  Canal,  169 
Chile,  77,  387 
China,  68,  73,  128,  217,  218,  220,  221,  225, 

280,  282,  387 
Cincinnati,  178-180 
Circulation  of  goods,  150 
Cities,  growth  of,  162 
City  life,  163-165 
Clay  products,  141 
Cleveland,    170,    137,    147,    161,    208,    229, 

388 
Clothing,  82,  222 
investigation  of,  47 
manufacture  by  states,  223 
Coal,   72,   82,   90,   96,    190,   329,   354,   372, 

383,  386 
production  by  states,  194 
Coal  fields  of  United  States,  194,  198 
Coal-tar  industry,  193 
Coastal  Plain,  185 
Coast  line,  274,  345 
Coast  Ranges,  344 
Coast  Survey,  393 
Coffee,  69,  361,  374,  382,  387 
Coke,  193 
Cold  storage,  143 
Cold  temperate  zones,  56 
Collective  economy,  scientific,  89 
Collective  economies,  87 
College  of  the  City  of  New  York,  251 
Colorado  Plateau,  308 
Colorado  Springs,  340 
Columbia,  387 
Columbia  Plateau,  308 
Columbia  University,  251 
Commerce,  84,  90 

investigation  of,  49 
Commercial  basins,  149 


Commercial  geography,  12 
C()mf)lex  societies,  classes  of,  92 
Comstock  lode,  328 
Concrete,  reenforced,  143 
Coniferous  forests,  57 
Connecticut  River,  188 
('onservation,  204 
Consumption,  149 
Contour  line,  106 
Cook,  Captain,  20 

Copper,  75,   138.  290,  329,  330,  354,  372, 
382,  383.  38s 

production  by  states,  3^0 
Cork,  67 
Corn,  109-112,  282,  317 

crop,  112,  113 

distribution  (map),  no 

inlluence  of,  112 

production  by  states,  112 
Cotton,  218,  277,  382,  384,  385,  388 

crop,  280 

distribution  (map),  280 

manufacture,  218,  219 

manufacture  by  states,  219 

mills,  293 

production  by  states,  280 

seed,  279 
Covington,  179 
Cowboys,  313 
Cripple  Creek,  329 
Crossroads,  162 
Cuba,  283,  284,  370,  387 
Cyclones,  60 
Cyclonic  storms,  107 
Cypress,  290 

Dairying,  125,  350 

Dairy  products,  value,  by  states,  125 

Danbury,  230 

Dekkan  plateau,  69 

Denmark,  127 

Denver,  338 

Department  of  Agriculture,  24,  317,  393 

Department  of  Commerce,  393 

Desert,  53 

animals  of,  66 

economic  resources  of,  66 

plants  of,  65 

soils  and  climate  of,  65 

warm,  64 
Detroit,  147,  171,  229,  388 
Diesel  engine,  197 
Distribution,  149 
Douglas  fir,  355 
Drought  plants,  317-318 


INDEX 


409 


Drunilins,  184 
Dry  farming,  b2,  318 
Duluth,  154,  19,5,  ,588 
Duluth-Superior,  174 
Durham,  286 
Durum  wheat,  317 
Dyes,  383,  38s 

Earth  crust,  50 

Eastern  States,  agriculture,  239 

boundaries,  182 

cities,  245-268 

climate,  188 

coast  line,  188 

clair>'ing,  239 

decline  of  agriculture,  242 

drainage,  185 

economic  character,  182 

foreign  commerce,  237,  387 

forest  products,  203-205 

fruits,  240 

manufactures,  206-231 

map,  186-187 

market  gardening,  240 

minerals,  190—203 

population,  182 

railroads,  235 

rank  in  farm  products,  243 

rank  in  manufactures,  230 

rank  in  mineral  and  forest  products,  205 

soils,  185 

waterways,  233 
East  Indies,  286,  387 
East  Liverpool,  143 
East  St.  Louis,  175 
Economic  geography,  1 1 
Economic  relations,  13-44 
Economies,  analysis  of  human,  90-91 
Economy,  defined,  10 

kinds  of,  9 
Eggs,  127,  128,  243,  331 
Egypt,  218,  219,  318,  387 
Electric  railways,  152 
Engineering,  90 
Ensilage,  iii 
Environment,  10 

favorable  to  man,  50 
Equatorial  zone,  68 
Erie  Barge  Canal,  234,  265 
Erie  Canal,  159,  160,  233,  245,  298 
Eskimos,  17-19,  43 
Europe,  73,  119 
European  war,  147,  389 
Exportation,  150 
Exports,  383 


P'actory  system,  81 
Fairbanks,  372,  374 
Fall  Line,  185,  272,  293 
Fall  River,  215,  219 
Farinha,  3: 
Farm  life,  i  29 
Fertilizers,  66,  76,  289 
Fibers,  215 
Field  culture,  88 
Film  water,  51 
Finger  Lakes,  185,  241 
Fisheries,  77,  242,  352 

map,  78     ' 
Flax,  215 
Floe,  17 
Flour,  38s 

rank  of  states  in,  146 
Food,  investigation  of,  47 
Foodstuffs,  82,  143 
Forage,  313 
Foreign  commerce,  237,  252,  257,  260,  261, 

296,  299,  367 
Forest  Service,  393 
Forests,  United  States  (map),  139 
Foundries,  212 
Frame  houses,  199 
_F ranee,   75,   116,   127,   217,   220,   221,  324, 

38s 
Fruits,  282,  374,  382 
Furniture,  147 

Gainful  occupations,  investigation  of,  46 

Galena,  138 

Galveston,  300,  388 

Garden  culture,  88 

Gary,  137,  208 

Gas,  193 

Gasoline,  73,  74,  197 

Geography,  10 

Geological  Survey,  393 

Georgia  pine,  290 

Germany,  75,  77,  117,  119.  121,  127,  213, 

216,  217,  220,  25^,  3*5^ 
Ginseng,  41,  42  ' 
Girard  College,  259 
Glacial  drift.  107 
Glacier  National  Park,  337 
Glass,  143 
Gloucester,  242 
Gloves,  224,  226,  383,  385 
Gloversville,  227 
Goatskins,  225,  226 
Gold,  75.  76.  326,  330,  353.  372 

production  by  states,  330 
Goldfield,  329 


4IO 


INDEX 


Good  roads,  151,  152 

(Joodycar  process,  227 

Cirand  Canyon,  309,  337 

('•rand  Kapids,  147 

(Iraiiitc,  200 

Clrapcfruit,  283 

(irapes,  241,  351 

Grass,  ^2,  121 

Grassland,  53,  68 

Gravel,  201 

Great  Basin,  loi,  308 

Great  Britain,  75,  82,  92,  117,  128,  213,  217, 

219.  3*^5 
Great  Lakes,  156-159,  160 

tonnage,  158 
Great  Plains,  273,  305,  333 
Great  Salt  Lake,  319 
Greenland,  17,  43,  56,  73,  78 
Green  matter  in  plants,  51 
Grenoble,  227 
Growing  season  (map),  96 

Hammock,  30 

Hardwood  forest,  140 

Hargreaves,  James,  213 

Hartford,  231 

Harvard  University,  257 

Hawaii,  282,  283,  284,  375,  387 

Hay,  121,  349 

Hemp,  216,  378,  382 

Herding,  89 

Hides,  223 

Hoe  culture,  87 

Hogs,  38,  41,  127 

Holland,  127,  220 

Holyoke,  229 

Home  economies,  investigation  of,  46-49 

Honolulu,  375 

Hookworm,  292 

Hopi,  22,  23 

Horse,  a,  123 

Horticulture,  89 

Household  equipment,  investigation  of,  48 

Housing,  investigation  of,  48 

Human  economies  (map),  86 

Humus,  51 

Hungary,  113 

Hydraulic  mining,  327 

Ice  desert,  56 
Importation,  150 
Imports,  382 
Improved  land,  109 

India,  73,  116,  216,  218,  220,  225,  280,  282, 
283,  286 


Indianapolis,  144,  180 
Industrial  geography,  12 
Industrial  rev(jlution,  80 
Industry,  domestic,  80 

factors  necessary  for,  81 
Inside  jxissage,  188,  233 
Intellectual  industries,  83 
Intensive  agriculture,  88 
Interior  Department,  393 
Interior  States,  agriculture,  315-325 

cities  of,  338-341 

climate,  308 

crops,  323 

drainage,  309 

foreign  commerce,  388 

herding,  312-315 

map,  306-307 

mining,  326-332 

natural  features,  303 

railroads  of,  334 

rank  in  farm  products,  325 

rank  in  mineral  and  forest  products,  332 

relief,  304 

transportation,  333-337 

vegetation,  310 
Intermediate  zones.     See  Temperate  zones 
Intermont  Plateaus,  308,  345 
Intermont  Valley,  344 
Intertropical  zone.     See  Equatorial  zone 
Ireland,  119,  121,  216,  253 
Iron,  74,  75,  90,  136-138,  207,  329,  382 

production  by  states,  208 
Irrigated  lands,  life  on,  324 
Irrigation,  318,  347,  350,  367 
Irrigation  projects,  321-322 
Isotherms,  97 

Italy,  113,  117,  221,  253,  386 
Ivory,  68 

Jacksonville,  300 

Jamaica,  282 

Japan,  73,  78,  220,  221,  282,  386 

Java,  283,  284 

Jefferson  ville,  180 

Jetties,  298,  299,  300 

Johns  Hopkins  University,  261 

Johnstown,  227 

Joplin,  138 

Juneau,  372      ^ 

Jute,  216,  387 

Kafir,  317,  318 
Kalahari  desert,  65 
Kansas  City,  144,  178 
Kayak,  17 


INDEX 


411 


Kelp,  77 

Keokuk,  136 

Kerosene,  73,  74,  196 

Keweenaw,  138 

Key  West,  286,  295  * 

Kibitka.     See  Yurt 

Kirghiz,  33 

Klamath  project,  350 

Knoxville,  294 

Kumiss,  34 

Lackawanna,  266 

Lake  plain,  185 

Lassen,  344 

Lawrence,  215 

Lead,  138,  330 

Leadville,  328 

Leather,  173,  223,  383 

Levees,  274 

Lianas,  27 

Limestone,  72,  89,  200 

Limpets,  15 

Liquors,  14O 

Liverpool,  219 

Log  houses,  39 

London,  168 

Los  Angeles,  362,  366 

Louisville,  180,  286 

Lowell,  215,  219 

Lumber,  138-141,  361,  382.  383.  384.  385.  386 

production  by  states,  357 
Lynn,  226 
Lyons,  221 

Machinery,  effects,  132 

Maize,  109 

Manchester,  219 

Mandioca.     See  Manioc 

Manila,  378 

Manila  hemp,  216,  378,  382 

Manioc,  31 

Mantle  rock,  72,  107 

Manufactures,  investigation  of,  48 

rank  of  states  in,  231 
Marble,  201,  290 
Marl,  142 

Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology,  257 
Materials  for  construction,  82 
Meat  packing,  144 
Mechanic  arts,  90 
Mediterranean  regions,  67 
Memphis,  301 
Menhaden,  77 
Mercury,  354 
Mesabi,  137 


Metallurgy,  83 
Metropolitan  district,  165 
Mexico,  73,  76,  113,  225,  387 
Miami  and  Erie  Canal,  173,  179 
Middle  West,  agriculture,  108-122 

cities  of,  165-181 

climate,  107 

commerce  and  transportation,  149-161 

extent,  106 

farms,  129 

foreign  commerce,  388 

manufactures,  133-148 

map,  134-^135 

population,  106 

rank  in  manufactures,  147 

rank  in  minerals  and  forest  products,  141 

rank  in  products  of  agriculture,  128 

relief,  soil,  drainage,  107 

stock  raising,  123-129 

vegetation,  107 

waterways,  156 
Milk,  125 

Millet,  68,  121,  317,  318 
Milling,  145 

Milwaukee,  137,  147,  172-173,  208,  229 
Minerals,  82 

production  by  states,  203 
Mining,  195 

economy,  331 
Minneapolis,  136,  145 
Minneapolis-St.  Paul,  176-178 
Mississippi,  159,  160 
Mississippi  Embayment,  272 
Mobile,  301 
Moline,  147 
Money,  76,  84,  392 
Moonshiners,  42 
Mother  lode,  327 
Mt.  Mitchell,  273 
Mt.  Rainier,  365 
Mt.  Washington,  184 
Mt.  Whitney,  344 
Mules,  123,  124,  287 
Munitions  of  war,  231,  389 
Mutton,  315 


Nashville,  301 

National  Forest  Reserves,  357 

Natural  gas,  198 

Natural  resources,  11 

Naval  station,  363 

Naval  stores,  291 

^avy  yards,  248,  257,  259 

Netherlands,  386 

New  Albany,  180 


412 


i\i)i;x 


New  Bedford,  215,  2ig 
New  Britain,  2.^1 
Xew  England  Plateau,  183 
Newfoundland,  242 
New  lla\en,  231 

New  Orleans,  143,  284,  296-300,  388 
Newport,  179 

New  York,  188,  192,  223,  229,  239,  245-254, 
284,  387,  388 
map,  247 
New  York  University,  252 
New  Zealand,  92,  217 
Niagara  Falls,  82,  207,  230,  264,  266 
Nile  valley,  66,  280 
Nitrate  of  soda,  77 
Nitrogen,  71,  77 
Northern  Appalachians,  184 
Norway,  77,  78,  119 

Oakland,  363 
Oats,  117-iig,  282 

production  by  states,  118 
Oil  field,  197 
Oil  refmeries,  197 
Omaha,  144,  178 
Oranges,  282,  351 
Oregon  trail,  178 
Ores,  74 
Oswego,  230 
Overland  Mail,  333 
Oysters,  78,  243 
Ozark  Highlands,  273 

Pacific  Cordillera,  344 
Pacific  division,  101-103,  217 
Pacific  States,  agriculture,  349-352 

area,  344 

cities,  362-367 

climate,  345,  357-359,  369 

commerce,  362 

drainage,  346 

economic  development,  346 

economic  rank,  368 

foreign  commerce,  367,  388 

lumber,  355-357 

manufactures,  361 

map,  306-307 

natural  conditions,  343 

population,  344,  368 

rank  in  farm  products,  349 

rank  in  manufactures,  361 

rank  in  minerals  and  forest  products,  359 

relief,  344 

transportation,  362 

vegetation,  346 


Pampas,  62,  63 

Panama   Canal,    160,    294,    299,   337,   357, 

3<J7,  378 
Paper,  83,  227,  228 
♦n'ara  rubber.     Sec  Kul)!)er 
Passes,  274 
Patagonia,  62 
Paterson,  215,  221 
Pawtucket,  215,  219 
Peninsula  of  Florida,  274 
Perpendicular  farms,  41 
Persia,  280 
Peru,  219,  280,  387 
Petersburg,  286 

Petroleum,  73,  90,  196,  197,  289,  354,  361, 
367,  368,  383,  384 

production  by  states,  354 
Philadelphia,  188,  215,  219,  223,  224,  229, 

257-260,  284,  387,  388 
Philippine  Islands,  216,  377,  387    • 

map,  376 
Phosphorus,  77 
Piedmont  Plateau,  185,  273 
Pig  iron,  209 
Pigs,  127 
Pikes  Peak,  308 
Pineries,  138 
Pittsburgh,  82,  137,  138,  161,  170,  193,  208, 

213,  262-264 
I'lacer  mining,  326 
Plantation  culture,  88 
Plant  regions,  55-69 

map,  61 
Plants,  importance  of,  14 

kinds  of,  52 

requirements  of,  51 
Plant  societies,  52 
Polar  caps,  56 
Pony  Express,  334 

Population  of  United  States  (map),  100 
I'ortland,  362,  365 
Porto  Rico,  283,  284,  374,  387 
Post-office  Department,  392 
Potash,  77 

Potassium  bichromate,  224 
Potatoes,  120 

production  b^-  states,  120 
Pottery,  143 
Poultry,  127 
Power,  206 
Prairies,  63 
Prairie  schooner,  355 
Pribilof  Islands,  373 
Printing  and  publishing,  83,  229 

rank  of  states  in,  229 


INDEX 


413 


Production,  149 

Professions,  go 

Providence,  215,  231 

Pueblo,  329,  340 

Pueblo  Indians,  22-26,  44 

Puget  Sound,  362,  365,  367,  374,  388 

Quartz  mining,  327 

Racine,  147 

Railroads,  153,  154,  15s,  160,  163,  176,  178, 

235,  236,  237,  260,  294,  295,  313,  334, 

335. 336,  33Q.  362,  364,  367,  373,  378-381 
maps    of,     134-135,     186-187,     270-271, 

306-307 
Rainfall  (maps),  58-59,  94 
Ranching,  313 

Reclamation  service,  319,  350 
Red  River  valley,  115 
Redwood  trees,  356 
Refined  oil,  198 
Refrigeration,  143 
Reindeer,  373 
Revolution,  industrial,  80 
Rice,  69,  281,  378 
Richmond,  190,  286 
Rochester,  230 
Rocks,  71 

Rocky  Mountains,  303,  305 
Rolling  mills,  212 
Roosevelt  dam,  203 
Rotterdam,  386 
Roumania,  113 
t*ubber,  32,  227,  382,  385,  386,  387 
Russia,  73,  n6,  117,  119,  121,  123,  198,  217, 

286,  324,  387 
Rye,  119 


\ 


Sacramento,  362 

Sahara  desert,  64,  65,  66 

St.  Louis,  144,  154,  161,  174-176,  226 

St.  Paul,  154.     See  Minneapohs-St.  Paul 

Salmon,  78,  373 

Salt,  77 

Salt  Lake  Cit},',  340 

Salt  River  project,  322 

San  Francisco,  284,  361,  362-364,  380 

San  Juan,  375 

Sand,  201 

Sandstones,  201 

Sanitation,  164 

Santa  Fe  trail,  178 

Savannah,  300 

Savannas,  68 

Scotland,  119,  216,  217 

Seals,  17,  56,  373 


Seattle,  364 
Sewing  machine,  222 
Sheboygan,  147 
Sheep,  127,  314,  347 

distribution  (map),  314 
Shipbuilding,  229 
Shoddy,  217 
Shoes,  225 
Siberia,  60,  117 
Siberian  forest,  60 
Sicily,  282 
Silk,  220,  382 

manufacture  by  states,  221 
Silkworm,  67,  220 
Silos,  III,  129,  130 
Silver,  75,  76,  32S,  330 

production  by  states,  330 
Simple  societies,  91 
Sisal,  216,  382,  387 
Slate,  200 
Slaughtering,  144 

rank  of  states  in,  144 
Slums,  165 
Smelting,  208 
Snake  dance,  26 
Sodium  nitrate,  382 
Soil,  51,  72 
Sorghum,  318 
South  America,  15,  27 
South  Bend,  147 
Southern  States,  agriculture,  277-286 

boundaries,  269 

cities,  296-301 

climate,  275 

drainage,  274 

foreign  commerce,  387 

health  resorts,  275 

Hve  stock,  286 

lumber,  290 

manufactures,  291-293 

map,  270-271 

minerals,  289-290 

population,  301 

railroads,  294 

rank  in  farm  products,  287 

rank  in  manufactures  and  in  mineral  and 
forest  products,  293 

reUef,  272 

vegetation,  275 

waterways,  293 
South  Sea  Islanders,  19-22 
Spain,  386 
Spinning,  213 
Spokane,  366 
Springfield,  147 


414 


INDEX 


Stassfurt,  77 

Steel,  207,  210,  382 

Steiipe,  peo|)lc  of,  32-37 

StcpiK-s,  ^i2,  44,  O2 

Slock  breeding,  89 

Stock  raising,  347 

Stone,  200 

Subtropical  zones,  64 

Sugar,  361,  374.  378,  382 

Sugar  cane,  377 

Summer  forest,  (12 

Superior.     .SVc  Dululh-Superior 

Superior  iron  district,  137,  138 

Sweden,  ng,  127 

Swine,  126,  127 

distribution,  (map)  126 
Switzerland,  127,  220 
Syracuse,  230 

Tacoma,  365 
Tahiti,  19 
Tanning,  173,  223 
Technical  arts,  go 
Temperate  rain  forests,  67 
Temperate  zones,  55,  60 

map,  58-59 

resources  of,  64 
Textiles,  82,  213-222,  215,  385 

rank  of  cities  in,  215 
Through  traffic,  150 
Tile,  142 
Tin,  382 
Tobacco,  374,  378,  382,  383,  385 

distribution,  (map)  284 

production  by  states,  285 
Toledo,  173 
Tonopah,  329 
Trade,  83,  149 
Transportation,  149,  151 

investigation  of,  48 
Trap,  201 

Treasury  Department,  392 
Trenton,  231 
Tropical  dry  forests,  66 
Tropical  rain  forests,  69 
Tropics,  68 
Troy,  230 

Truckee-Carson  project,  321 
Tulane  University,  298 
Tundra,  56 

Turkestan,  32,  218,  280 
Turkey,  217,  280 

Uncompahgre  project,  322 
Unions,  195 


United  Stales,  73,  75,  70,  93,  116,  117,  21^, 
224 

area,  95 

coal  fields,  194,  198 

economic  regions  of,  103,  104 

extent,  95 

foreign  commerce,  382-389 

fuel  resources  (map),  198 

population  (map),  100 

possessions  (map),  393-391 

rainfall  (map),  94 

textiles,  216 

work  of  government,  392 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  258 
University  of  Pittsburgh,  263 

Vegetation,  51,  54,  55 

Veldt,  62 

V'eneer,  141 

Venezuela,  387 

Village  Indians.     See  Pueblo  Indians 

W'altham,  231 

War  Department,  392 

Warm  Temperate  zones.     See   Subtropical 

zones 
Washington,  266—268 
Water,  71 

Water  power,  82,  g6,  136,  206 
Waterways,  155 

neglect  of,  160 
Weather  Bureau,  3g3 
Weaving,  213 
Welland  Canal,  157 
Wells,  322.  351 

West  Indies,  277,  282,  283,  387 
Whale  oil,  56 
Wheat,  113-115,  178,  282,  347,  349,  385 

crop,  I  IS,  116 

distribution  (map),  114,  116 

future  supply,  117 

production  by  states,  116 
Whisky,  42 
White  pine,  140 
Whitney,  Eli,  214 
Winston-Salem,  286 
Wisconsin  State  University,  125 
Woodland,  53 
Wood  pulp,  228 
Wool,  216,  315,  382,  38s 
Woolen  goods,  production  by  states,  217 
Woolen  manufacture,  217 
Worsteds,  217 
Wrought  iron,  210 


INDEX 


415 


Yahgans,  15-17,  43 
Yak,  124 

Yakima  project,  350 
Yellowstone  Park,  77,  335 
Yosemite  valley,  358 
Youngstown,  138,  213 


Yuma  project,  322 
Yurt,  34,  35 


Zebu,  124 
Zinc,  138,  330 


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